Above: On Wednesday, August 20, 2008, thousands of Ethis and New Yorkers packed NYC's Damrosch's Park for a historic concert. (Tadias File)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Photos by Trent Wolbe and Tadias
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008
New York (Tadias) – Wow, what an event that was! On Wednesday evening, Damrosch’s Park was packed with Ethiopiques enthusiasts and curious New Yorkers who were treated to an astonishing concert of fusion rock, jazz and Ethiopian music. The historic event at the Lincoln Center’s out of doors concert, one of the longest-running free summer festivals in the U.S, featured Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete accompanied by the Either Orchestra, and the legendary saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya in collaboration with Dutch band the Ex. The trio performed for the first time at Damrosch’s Park. Below is a slideshow of hot shots from the event:
Slideshow: Hot Shots From Historic Ethiopian Concert in New York
Tadias (Tseday and Liben)
Thank you very much for bringing this “once-in-a-life-time event” alive to everyone who did not have the opportunity and privilege to see and enjoy the moment! Thanks for your dedications, Tadias!
Mahmoud, Alemayehu, Getachew and the great “Eskista” dancer, (sorry I missed his name, too embarrassed and forgive me for that) were more than I expected them to be. The band was excellent, the “nuveau” Ethiopian Jazz sound, unlike I have never heard of. It was just magical. I had been away from mother Ethiopia for so many decades and I must say that this was the greatest treat I have ever gotten.
A very warm thanks to the organizers of the Lincoln Center for making this happen ,and hope that they will cherish us with the new generation of singers from the Mother Land with the same flavor at some point in the future!
I have been to many concerts here in New York as a regular New Yorker and nothing tops this event! It just touches you so deep in a way you can never imagine.
Thank you ,Tadias, for your fine work and effort to bring this and other noble issues to the vast audiences around the world. Keep up the good work in this information super highway!
Jappy and Christopher
New York City
August 21, 2008
Yes, thanks to Liben and everyone at Tadias for all the great work promoting the event. I heard from one of the performers that someone at Lincoln Center said that 8,000 people attended and from what I saw more than half were Ethiopian!
FYI, the dancer’s name is Melaku Belay. Melaku recently purchased Fendika, the historic night club in Kazanchis, and is offering dance instruction there as well. You can learn more here: http://www.myspace.com/melakufendika
-Danny
It was really wonderful! you can see how much we lost through the years !
Need a Ethiopian performance group for April 30, 2010 for about an hour or so to perform and a lower school (K – 5) for our international day.
Please send email if you have any leads: sheila.nyc@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Sheila