Gebre, Tilaye: Tilaye's Saxophone With The Dahlak Band (Vinyl 2xLP)

In the quiet storm of Ethiopian music in the mid- to late-1970s, Tilaye Gebre was something of the eye at the center. Even though much of the music from that period has been ridiculously hard to excavate from history, chances are that if you pick up any gem recorded in Addis Ababa during those times, it features Tilaye on saxophone and his arrangements.

In Africa’s second most populous country, having such a tight-knit musical scene surrounding the recording industry, it seems as if the movers and shakers were largely in each other’s phone books. Given the wealth of Ethiopian musical treasures unearthed in the last few decades, it’s easy to imagine Ethiopia as a society littered with musical institutions, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, only a select few talented musicians were given the opportunity to study music full-time.

One institution that stood out, however, was the Haile Selassie First Theatre (Ethiopian National Theatre) in Addis Ababa, where Tilaye was one of 120 pupils attending. A feature on national radio mentioned the new music school being inaugurated, and Tilaye — in fifth grade — jumped at the idea of choosing music as his vocation.

After completing the ABCs of his musical education there, Tilaye's destiny was set the moment a tenor saxophone was placed on his lap by his mentor, Ato Aymre Gemeda. Though he had originally planned to learn the guitar, fate — and the gentle guidance of a teacher — led him down a different path. The saxophone, unexpected as it was, became the voice through which Tilaye would express his soul for decades to come.

From the students, a small group of eleven gelled together out of a shared interest to form a band. Their repertoire initially consisted of standard pieces and classic big-band music. They soon began to direct their attention to new music technology. Over time, a nucleus crystallized. From the eleven-piece band, they concentrated into a five-man ensemble.

Tilaye’s dedication to mastering the country’s intricate rhythms and haunting melodies became the foundation of a sound that would ultimately be recognized far beyond Ethiopia’s borders. By the age of 17, Tilaye had already begun to stand out as a young musician. He won an award for a song he composed and arranged under the instruction of Mr. Nalbandian at the Haile Selassie First Theatre Music School — a prestigious competition that featured some of Ethiopia’s most talented musicians of all ages.

It was there that Tilaye deepened his expertise not only in playing the saxophone, but also in composition and arrangement — skills that would define his professional path. A founding member of the renowned Equators, and later the Dahlak Band, Tilaye was also a central figure in Ethiopia’s vibrant hotel music scene, where creativity and innovation flourished.

He later joined the legendary Walias Band, with whom he toured extensively across the United States. It was during one of these tours that Tilaye made the pivotal decision to remain in the U.S. and further develop his musical craft. His artistry has since taken him around the world, with performances in major cities across Europe, Canada, and the Virgin Islands.

Along the way, he has collaborated with some of the greatest Ethiopian vocalists of all time — including Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke, Muluken Melesse, and others — bringing the sound of Ethiopia to global audiences. Notably, with the legendary Mahmoud Ahmed, Tilaye graced iconic stages such as Berklee College of Music in Oakland, Millennium Park in Chicago, Wolf Trap in Virginia, and the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Tilaye — still going strong — was at the epicenter of the Ethiopian music scene during one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s history. Tilaye’s musical trajectory, regardless of the forms it has taken over the decades, is simply ceaseless. The road to a musical career spanning six decades started out winding, and the first steps came almost as a fluke.

With the Dahlak Band, Tilaye had managed to secure a musical residency at the legendary Ghion Hotel, where they honed their skills and developed their musical expression to unparalleled levels. From the late sixties onwards, Dahlak Band lit up Addis Ababa with a mixture of James Brown and Wilson Pickett tunes, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and the sound of the disco era — mixed with modern Ethiopian styles — serving up majestic concoctions with full-range instrumentation, featuring trumpet, keyboard, saxophone, bass, drums, and guitar.

Through their hotel sessions, Tilaye developed further as an arranger, arranging fellow band member Muluken Melesse’s first solo album, Muluken Melesse with the Dahlak Band (Kaifa Records – LPKF 39), recorded during the turbulent years of 1975–1976, following the fall of Haile Selassie. Everything was in flux in this transitional period, but a constant was how Tilaye stood in the spotlight.

On that record, there’s a loose vibe to the soundscape that lets Tilaye’s skills shine, while all the other musical contributions coalesce into a slowly cooking atmosphere where the groove at times fluctuates into psychedelic territory, making the music stand out from most contemporaries.

Most of their recorded output came from one-take live cassette recordings at the Ghion, or from music shops at that time — one microphone at the front, hit record: no EQ, no reverb, just some delay. Some of the Dahlak Band’s releases featured Tilaye as frontman, such as Tilaye’s Saxophone with the Dahlak Band from the late 1970s — typical of a rare groove on the Ethiopian scene — with excursions into reggae territory, including the band’s characteristic sound featuring Tilaye Gebre (tenor and alto saxophone), Dawit Yifru (organ), Dawit Kassa (electric guitar), Shimelis Beyene (trumpet), Moges Habte (tenor saxophone), Abera Feyissa (bass guitar), Tasfaye Tessema (drums), and Muluken Melesse (cowbell). The Dahlak Band’s output was so prodigious that they simply couldn’t be pigeonholed.

Making a living from music in the years when the Derg regime consolidated its power required some deft maneuvering. The Dahlak Band had to keep their cool if they were to play nightclubs after curfew. Since no one was allowed to be out in the streets after midnight, it meant they played from eleven in the evening onwards, only for patrons of the clubs to leave at five or six in the morning — a feat requiring Herculean stamina.

Only revolutionary and patriotic songs were played on the radio at the time, but the Dahlak Band saw themselves as just as, or more, patriotic than any other musicians around. Album recordings came to a halt for eight or nine years, but over time a market emerged, as demand for music never dwindled, and the Dahlak Band and Tilaye went on to record cassettes. Eventually, restrictions lessened, and cassettes of love songs and relaxing music began to flood the market.

No saxophonist in Ethiopia influenced the sound of popular music more than Tilaye in the 1970s, yet his recordings have been hard to come by for ages, which has meant that newcomers to the scene have gems to uncover in retrospect. Arguably, Tilaye shifted gears when he relocated to the U.S. to such an extent that his musicianship became even more renowned, accompanying the greatest of his contemporaries internationally.

Tilaye is one of Ethiopia’s all-time greats, with a musical legacy — both as musician and arranger — that’s hard to surpass. It’s a wonder to be able to enjoy a recording like this half a century later.

1. Ālibek’agnimi
2. Ānichī keto gidi yeleshimi
3. Tizita
4. Ts’igērēda
5. Ālichalikumi
6. Eyut sitinafik’egni
7. Feqresh yemench weha
8. Ye’āyinē tesifa
9. Tizi ālegni yet’initu