Ibex Band [Addis Abeba]

During the 1970s and 1980s, Ibex Band was an extremely prolific studio and live group, backing artists such as Aster Aweke, Girma Bèyènè and Mulatu Astatke, and appearing on more than 200 albums and thousands of singles. During a period of political oppression in Ethiopia, Ibex Band managed to reinterpret and breathe new life into traditional melodies, creating a vast repertoire of irresistibly cool dance music. The sound of countless musicians would be shaped and inspired by them in the decades to come. At the heart of it all is Selam Seyoum Woldemariam’s guitar playing; smooth as honey, constantly in a dancing dialogue with Giovani Rico’s bass grooves, as deep as if they came from the bottom of the Rift Valley. Add two saxophones, a drum kit and an organ, and the IBEX sound is complete: with traditional melodies, jazz improvisation and infectious rhythms, the six-piece group crafts a sound that is as classic as it is timelessly distinctive – a seamless blend of sexy soul, improvisation and enchanting harmonies. Stereo Instrumental Music is the tonly official album that lists Ibex Band as the sole main artist. It was released in 2025 by the Swedish-Ethiopian label Muzikawi, after having been lost for half a century: the recording was made as early as 1976, during a few hectic hours at the Ras Hotel in Addis Ababa. Outside, the Red Terror was raging, and the Soviet-backed Derg regime was spreading paranoia and violence – directed not least at musicians and other artists. Meanwhile, within the hotel’s walls: a unique opportunity to secretly record on a four-track tape recorder that the Swede Karl-Gustav Lundgren had borrowed from a Christian radio station. After a lightning-fast set-up, the Ibex Band got started. With a sextet as experienced as this, the need for retakes was practically zero, and soon twelve tracks were recorded on magnetic tape. After Stereo Instrumental Music had been acclaimed in the international music press, Woldemariam and Rico decided to reunite – this time backed by a hand-picked group of musicians from the USA, Sweden and Ethiopia – to once again invite the audience into a world of pulsating Ethio-jazz.