Getatchew Mekurya

Ethiopiques 14 Getatchew Mekurya

Gétatchèw Mèkurya is the 'inventor' of a distinctive musical style. Amongst Ethiopia's vocal genres, there exists a form of singing that is purely warlik: epic and declamatory, harsh and hoarse-voiced: « shellela ». Gétatchèw had the idea of transposing the genre to his saxophone, creating a musical form that is daring, improvisational, angry and impetuous, a sort of free jazz before it's time.