Jano Band
Jano Band | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Genres | Traditional-mixed rock |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Members |
|
| Website | jano |
Jano Band is an Ethiopian rock band brought together by one of the biggest entrepreneurs in Ethiopia by Ermyas Amelga and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. The band includes two lead female vocalists, two lead male vocalists, and six musicians who play bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drum, and keyboards.[1][2]
Career
2012
Jano's debut album Ertale was released in 2012. The album was named after a place in Eastern part of Ethiopia called Afar where a volcano comes to an extraordinary active lava. The songs in the album were partly written by the renowned Ethiopian lyricist Yilma Gebreab and partly by them. This is the first ever rock album in Ethiopia. The audio and video of the song "Ayrak" from the album became quickly popular among the media in Ethiopia.[2]
2013 – 2017
After the release of the album, Jano had its debut show in April 2012 with shows at Sheraton Addis and the renowned Club H2O. Before they went on a big tour to Europe and the Americas, Jano had countrywide concerts in November at the regional cities of Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, Arba Minch, to introduce the unique sound nationally. Starting from mid-December, Jano began tour covering in Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, United States, and Israel and the Middle East. In 2017, Jano also became the first Ethiopian band to feature on Coke Studio Africa alongside the South African singer Shekinah in Nairobi, Kenya.
Apart from the two albums, Jano has released singles like "Yinegal" in 2015 and "Aynema Wedajish", "Darigne", "Fikrish New Yegodagn", and "Erikum" in 2016. From these songs, two of them, "Aynema Wedajish" and "Fikrish New Yegodagn" were not their original songs. Their original singers are Muluken Melesse and Tilahun Gessesse.[3]
2018
On February 1, 2018, Jano released their second album called Lerasih New. Most of the songs in the album urge fans to be conscious of their actions. The engineering process of the album was done in BluMusica studio in Turin, Italy and the mastering was done by Lurseen mastering studio in Los Angeles, California, United States.[1]
Musical style
The band combines the traditional Ethiopian music into the genre of rock to create wild type of music called Ethiopian rock. This new genre has attracted widespread attention from both local and international audiences.[2]
Band members
The band includes two female vocalists, two male vocalists and other musicians. Its current members are:
Samuel Tefera (manager)
- Hewan Gebrewold (vocals)
- Haleluya Tekletsadik (vocals)
- Debekulu Tafesse (vocals)
- Hailu Amerga (vocals)
Discography
- Ertale (2012)
- Lerasih New (2018)
Concert tours
Jano has performed in Ethiopia and abroad. In Ethiopia, they performed concerts in Addis Ababa, Arba Minch, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, and Mekelle. Internationally they have performed in Brazil, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United States, and United Kingdom.
Awards and nominations
Jano has been nominated for their single "Yinegal" on Leza radio listeners choice award in 2016. In addition to this, the band has also been nominated for best Artist/Duo/Group in African rock alongside the South African singer Loki Rothman and best African group alongside the Kenyan group Sauti Sol, and the Ivorian group Toofan on AFRIMA3.0 in the same year.
See also
- List of Ethiopians - Bands
References
- ^ a b "Interview:Jano Band Talks New Album". Tadias. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "JANO: An Ethiopian rock phenomena". Addis Standard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "JANO: An Ethiopian rock phenomena". Addis Standard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.