PART I

The attempted coup in December of 1960 was the beginning of the end for the Imperial Bodyguard Orchestra. Most of its members resigned their positions and joined other major orchestras such as the Police, Army and the Haile Selassie I Theatre. These major orchestras slowly gave way to smaller bands. Some of the These bands first cropped up in the major hotels. Named after the hotels that employed them, these band such as The Ras, The Ghion and The Shebelle Bands later became very popular as the hotels became the place to be on Friday nights. Part I will concentrate on the Ras Band.

The Ras Band

The first Ras Band was formed in 1960. It was led by Tefera Mekonnen (piano), Getachew Welde-Selassie and later Wodajeneh Felfelu (saxophone), Zewdu Legesse and later Assefa Bayisa (trumpet), Tilahun Yimer (bass), Bahru Tedla (drums), Bahta Gebrehiwot (Amharic and Tigrigna Vocals), Girma Beyene (English Vocals) and Gebreab Teferi (MC and lyricist).

"Friday nights at the Ras Hotel was an amazing experience," says Bahta Gebrehiwot. In an interview to Addis Live Radio, Bahta vividly describes that it was the hotel's rule that patrons be dressed impeccably. Single guests were a rarity. Guests who were deemed under dressed were given a tie. What was not tolerated then, but you see quite often now, is same-sex dance partners. It was with the Ras Band that Bahta recorded most of his works, including Anchim Endelela, Degmo Endemin Alesh, Siqay Zeqealyu, Yetilacha Werie, Kalatashew Akal, Ya Ya and Wede Harar Guzo. Bahta wrote the lyrics and music to all of the Tigrigna songs he recorded. With the exception of maybe one or two songs all of the Amharic songs were written by Gebreab Teferi and the music written and arranged by the piano man, Tefera Mekonnen. One song Bahta wrote that Girma Beyene made famous was Yebeqagnal. It was while he was at the Ras Band that Bahta Gebrehiwot went to night class and became an accountant. When he left the music scene in 1972, he worked as an accountant for the Ghion Hotel and Film Corporation until his retirement. He was so disillusioned by the state of Ethiopian music that he left the music scene. In January 2004, Bahta performed Anchim Endelela, for the first time in many years, with a Boston based jazz band called the Either Orchestra (The CD was released as Eithiopiques 20 in 2005).

The majority members of the first Ras Band came from the Haile Selassie I Theatre who was then led by the famous Armenian Nerses Nalbandian (1915-1977). These included Girma Beyene, Wodajeneh Felfelu, Assefa Bayisa, Tefera Mekonnen, Tilahun Yimer and Bahru Tedla. Up to 1955 the last three were also in the Imperial Bodyguard Orchestra Jazz Symphony under Austrian Franz Zelwecher (1911-1998). As members of the Jazz Symphony, Tefera played the upright bass while Tilahun and Bahru played the percussions and drums respectively. The first Ras Band stayed in this form until 1965 when the entire band, with the exception of Girma Beyene, went on to form the Ghion Band at the Ghion Hotel.  Bahru Tedla and Girma Beyene are the only one still alive today. 

Girma Beyene decided to stay and form the second Ras Band sometime in 1965. The band consisted of Girma Beyene (piano & English Vocals), Tesfamariam Kidane (saxophone), Hailu "Zehon" Kebede (bass) Girma Zemariam (drums), Menelik Wossenachew and Seyfu Yohannes (Vocalists).

Menelik Wossenachew left the Haile Selassie I Theatre Orchestra as vocalist, where he had a string of hits including, "Fiqir Bastergwami", "Fiqir Ayaregim", "Sukuar Sukuar", the last two written by Merawi Sitot (a member of the HIM I Theatre Orchestra who played the saxophone and clarinet) and "Aderch Arada" (the organ is played by the late Getachew Degefu (1944-2000)-who started out as a vocalist at the HIM I Theatre), this version was written by Getachew Debalqe, who also authored the lyrics to "Lomi Tera Tera" (even though this song was written to criticize HIM, it didn't stop the Derg from jailing him for four years), "Engenagnalen" (music written by Kassa Welde and Nerses Nalbandian) and "Yene Hasab" (performed brilliantly by Girma Negash, who later became a famous sports journalist).  It's with the second Ras Band that Menelik Wossenachew performed "Wub Nat."

Seyfu Yohannes had a very brief carrier before passing away in his early thirties (Francis Falceto has it as 26, but from my conversations with artists that new him, he was older than that). He was known for such hits as, "Mela Mela", "Tizita", "Birtukan Terengo Mesai", "Qonjiteye", "Hana", "Melewetesh Minew", "Yekermew Sew", "Meche Dereshe" and "Ebo La" (the last three were arranged by Mulatu Astatqe, infact "Yekermew Sew" and "Meche Dereshe" were Mulatu's original compositions). "Yekermew Sew" was originally a play written by the late Belatengeta Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin (1936-2006), and if i'm not mistaken wrote the lyrics for Seyfu. "Qonjiteye" and "Melewetesh Minew", were written and arranged by Girma Beyene and backed by the Ras Band.  It's interesting to note that Seyfu Yohannes' younger sister is none other than Rahel Yohannes, the beloved traditional s
inger. In an interview she gave to Radio Fana, she mentions that their father was very much against Seyfu's carrier choice that he disowned him for a while before elders intervened and persuded their father to forgive Seyfu.

*** I'll discuss the musicians in the second Ras Band in detail when discussing the "All Star Band", since most of the musicians went on to form it.

***I would like to thank Francis Falceto for his very detailed liner notes (Ethiopiques 1) and his book "Abyssine Swing: a pictorial history of modern Ethiopian music" –a must have for all lovers of Ethiopian Music History.