Debo Band - s/t

When I arrived at this year's Summer Solstice celebration at the Cleveland Museum of Art with my fiancée after agreeing on paying the extra cash to attend the earlier portion of the event at her suggestion, I was pleasantly surprised to hear this fine band playing as we walked out onto the museum's courtyard. The Boston based Debo Band play Ethiopian influenced pop/funk/soul as a full 11-peice band. Led by Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by vocalist Bruck Tesfaye, the band formed in 2006 and this past summer released this self-tittled debut through Sub Pop/Next Ambiance. The album is produced by Thomas Gobena of Gogol Bordello and mastered by Grammy nominated engineer Joe LaPorta.

In addition to vocals and saxophone mentioned already, the group also includes violin, trumpet, guitar, bass, sousaphone, accordion, and drums/percussions. As a full ensemble they are engaging and attention grabbing on stage, but create enough musical space for charismatic vocalist Bruck Tesfaye, who in turn acts as a lightning rod for the rhythms of the string section and percussion of the drums to flow through. The horns often act as leads and chorus, playing off of and in response to Testfaye's vocals. Though their sound and influences draw back from the late '60s and early '70s, they represent a fresh take and uniqueness, in particular, within the current music scene.


Debo Band - Asha Gedawo

Charging from the gates, this 5:13 minute song is a nice example of the back-and-forth play of the vocals and the horn leads. The drums keep a quick pace with half notes mixed in to pepper the speed even more. Backing vocals add to the impact of the chorus, though this isn't as common on the remainder of the album. At the midpoint electric violin and electric guitar take us into a dreamy duet that works well within the context of the much more frantic pattern of the percussion and vocals found in the remainder of the song. The horns and drums play in unison to close out the song, demonstrating the tightness of the large ensemble.

You can find the new album available in CD, 2xLP, and mp3 through the Sub Pop Records store, Amazon, and on iTunes. Here's a video of the group performing Ney Ney Weleba at the 2012 SXSW in Austin, TX: