Debo Band - Boston's Ethiopian Groove Collective » news http://deboband.com Taking the classic sounds of Swinging Addis, paying it forward to the next generation. Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:49:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 The Year At An End http://deboband.com/news/the-year-at-an-end/ http://deboband.com/news/the-year-at-an-end/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:01:55 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=605 The Year At An End

2011 has been a stellar year for us full of exciting shows, first breaks and debuts: SXSW, Montreal Jazz Fest (Canada debut), Levitt Pavilion (California debut), Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center to name just the highlights.

And now as we wrap up the year, we are thrilled to announce that we’ve spent 3 weeks in the studio recording our debut full length record to be released in Summer 2012. Click on the photo below for a recording photo slideshow on Flickr.

The band listens back

The band listens back

Next year starts with a big show for us as one of 12 artists at globalFEST 2012, North America’s premier showcase for international music. Tickets available here.

“Each January, musicians from around the world gather in New York to kick off a new year with one amazing night of live music.” – NPR, All Songs Considered

]]> http://deboband.com/news/the-year-at-an-end/feed/ 0 Debo Band with special guests Fendika – Second US tour this summer! http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-special-guests-fendika-second-us-tour-this-summer/ http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-special-guests-fendika-second-us-tour-this-summer/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:26:03 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=563

Announcing the return of Fendika! Summer 2011

It’s right around the corner.

The second US tour with Fendika, our special
guest collaborators from Ethiopia.

For full dates and show info visit the shows page.

]]> http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-special-guests-fendika-second-us-tour-this-summer/feed/ 0 SXSW – Here we come! http://deboband.com/news/sxsw-here-we-come/ http://deboband.com/news/sxsw-here-we-come/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:00:41 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=543

SXSW – Here we come!

Momo’s, Austin, Texas: We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been invited to perform at South by Southwest, one of the largest music festivals in the U.S. Nearly 2,000 bands are performing this year, so we are honored to participate.

PRI’s The World and KUT Austin present All Music Is World Music, a genre-blurring night of music — this year’s artists hail from San Francisco, Boston, Brooklyn, Miami/Columbia, and Timbuktu, Mali. For more info, check out the Facebook event.

We even got one of our new videos on the official SXSW YouTube page!

]]> http://deboband.com/news/sxsw-here-we-come/feed/ 0 Next Show on Fri 2/25 – Countdown to Carnival Masquerade http://deboband.com/uncategorized/next-show-on-fri-225-countdown-to-carnival-masquerade/ http://deboband.com/uncategorized/next-show-on-fri-225-countdown-to-carnival-masquerade/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:18:59 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=517 New show announced! Join us on February 25 at the Middle East Downstairs for “Countdown to Carnival Masquerade.”

We’ll be joined by AfroBrazil, Tōmn, and Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band for a night featuring a Mardi Gras brass band explosions, Ethiopian trance grooves, Braz-American Rock music sandwiches, and an Brazilian Samba dance party.

Friday, February 25th /// 9 PM
The Middle East Downstairs
480 Mass. Ave (Central Sq.)/// Cambridge, MA
18+ /// $10 advance/ $12 day of show

Buy tickets here. And give a shout out on the Facebook invitation.

The deets:

  • Artist: Debo Band
  • Date: Friday, February 25th 2011
  • Time: 9:00pm
  • City: Debo Band in Cambridge
  • Venue: Middle East Downstairs
  • Address: 480 Mass. Ave
  • Country: United States
  • Admission: $10 advance, $12 doors
  • Age restrictions: 18+
  • Notes: MARCOS SANTOS’S AFRO BRAZIL + TŌMN + DEBO BAND + EMPEROR NORTON’S STATIONARY MARCHING BAND – Join us on February 25 at the Middle East Downstairs for “Countdown to Carnival Masquerade.” We’ll be joined by Marcus Santos’s AfroBrazil, Tōmn, and Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band for a night featuring Mardi Gras brass band explosions, Ethiopian trance grooves, Braz-American Rock music sandwiches, and an Brazilian Samba dance party.
  • Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal
]]> http://deboband.com/uncategorized/next-show-on-fri-225-countdown-to-carnival-masquerade/feed/ 0 Flamingoh (Pink Bird Dawn) EP http://deboband.com/news/flamingoh-pink-bird-dawn-ep/ http://deboband.com/news/flamingoh-pink-bird-dawn-ep/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 05:52:44 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=345

Friends, the wait is over – we’re pleased to announce our first CD release: a four track EP of live performances from our 2010 travels to Africa, lovingly and expertly prepared for you.

This live recording documents the brief period around our second trip to East Africa in Winter 2010, a journey that took our Ethio-groove collective across the world to share our interpretations of 1970s-era brass band-style Ethiopian funk. During this time we played a five-part hometown residency, a cosmopolitan Addis Ababa nightclub, and one of the largest music festivals in Africa. Along the way, we once again collaborated with dear friends and outstanding traditional artists: Melaku Belay and his group Fendika.

The flamingo is a majestic bird that thrives in the volcanic lake regions of East Africa’s Great Rift Valley. Like many African animals, mystery and myths surround the origins of this long-necked pink bird.  Our “flamingoh” is no exception: Flaming feathers (re)birthed from a breaking dawn. A dawn that rips open the sky.

The four tracks offered here are just the beginning: we have a documentary, featuring our escapades with Fendika, and a full-length live album on the way. This is our dawn: Goh qeddede.

Pick up a CD – with gorgeous cover art by James Weinberg – at one of our shows, online at Dusty Groove America (our favorite online retailer), or download from our bandcamp site.

]]> http://deboband.com/news/flamingoh-pink-bird-dawn-ep/feed/ 0 New shirts on the way http://deboband.com/uncategorized/new-shirts-on-the-way/ http://deboband.com/uncategorized/new-shirts-on-the-way/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:03:29 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=502 Howdy!

New t-shirts on the way! Naturally, we’re going with the Flamingoh design. Hope to unveil them at our first shows of the year, coming up soon on January 7 & 8.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2011!

love,
Debo

]]> http://deboband.com/uncategorized/new-shirts-on-the-way/feed/ 0 Debo Nominated for Boston Music Awards 2010. http://deboband.com/news/vote-debo-boston-music-awards-2010/ http://deboband.com/news/vote-debo-boston-music-awards-2010/#comments Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:38:19 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=398

Vote Debo! 2010 BMAs.

We’re thrilled to have been nominated once more in the Boston Music Awards category, “Best International Act.” We won the award in 2009, and, with your help, we hope to win again! Voting is easy and only takes two secs — just click here. Polls close on Monday, November 29, 5pm.

We’re also playing the awards ceremony on Sunday, December 5, at the stunning Liberty Hotel. Come on out and show your support! (See below for full details.)

Thanks for all your support in making this our biggest and best year yet. We couldn’t have done it without you!

xoxo, db.

The deets:

  • Artist: Debo Band
  • Date: Sunday, December 5th 2010
  • Time: 11:00pm
  • City: Debo Band in Boston
  • Venue: Liberty Hotel
  • Address: 215 Charles Street Boston, MA 02114
  • Country: United States
  • Admission: $20-$99
  • Box office: 617-283-2664
  • Notes: Debo Live at the BMAs. /// Catch us live at the BMAs, next Sunday, December 5 at Boston’s stunning Liberty Hotel. Our set is at 11pm in the Esplanade room (5th floor, near the rotunda). /// Admission is $20 and gets you in on an exclusive and glamorous night of music. Proceeds from the night go to support local music charties.
  • Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal
]]> http://deboband.com/news/vote-debo-boston-music-awards-2010/feed/ 0 Debo Band with Full Tang at Johnny D’s http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-full-tang-at-johnny-ds/ http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-full-tang-at-johnny-ds/#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:26:08 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=375

We’re thrilled to announce our next show on Friday, November, 19 at Johnny D’s where we’ll be joined by Full Tang, a great local band whose original compositions are steeped in the Chimurenga music of Zimbabwe, Franconian Salsa of the Congo, and Highlife of Ghana and Nigeria. It’s our first time sharing a bill with Full Tang, and we’re sure you’ll love them.

Read more and listen here.
And us let know you’re attending on our Facebook event page.
Full details over on the show page.
]]> http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-with-full-tang-at-johnny-ds/feed/ 0 FenDeboKa tour 2010 http://deboband.com/news/fendeboka-tour-2010/ http://deboband.com/news/fendeboka-tour-2010/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:26:41 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=334 Update! One more Boston show added to our fall tour: October 4th (Monday) at the Cambridge YMCA, all ages!

See below for the remaining shows on our first US tour, and check out the new reviews if you’re not convinced yet, or check out this video from Tadias.com:

In September, Debo Band is finally bringing the big tour home.  Our collaborators from Ethiopia are making their first trip to America to tour with Debo, in a short jaunt down the East Coast, then hitting up the venerable Chicago Work Music Festival and it’s little sister, Global Union in Milwaukee.

We couldn’t be more thrilled.

And we hope that all of you who have supported us these last 4 years, and who have helped us realize our dreams of traveling to Africa not once but twice, will come see the very stage show we believed in enough to bring it all the way to Zanzibar.

We can’t wait to introduce you to Asrat on keberu/drums, Selamnesh’s gigantic voice (you’ll recognize her from our current 7″), and Zinash and Melaku, two of Ethiopia’s standouts in regional folk dance.

We don’t know when or if this will ever happen again.  So if you’re a Debo Band supporter, please don’t miss these shows.  We would love to share with you a little bit of what we learned in East Africa.

Check out our tour page on Flipswitch: http://www.flipswitchpr.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.press_release/project_id/484.cfm

]]> http://deboband.com/news/fendeboka-tour-2010/feed/ 0 Debo Band 7″ available on Electric Cowbell Records http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-7-available-on-electric-cowbell-records/ http://deboband.com/news/debo-band-7-available-on-electric-cowbell-records/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:59:49 +0000 Debo http://deboband.com/?p=325 For the last year, we’ve worked with NYC-based producer and percussionist Kiddid, on a series of remixes, previously released as limited-edition cassette-only mixtapes. Now you can pre-order our new 7″ with Kiddid, our very first official release out on Electric Cowbell Records in Brooklyn.

“Adderech Arada” is a beloved traditional Ethiopian song about a woman who, after breaking out of her lawful marriage, falls into sin by traveling to Arada, or Addis Ababa’s red-light district. and falling into sin. Recorded live in Ethiopia in May 2009, Debo Band’s version of Adderech Arada is inspired by the Haile Selassie I Theater Orchestra’s recording arranged and conducted by Nerses Nalbandian. And on the flipside, Kiddid’s haunting remix deconstructs Debo Band’s performance with elements of dub, ambient electronica, and experimental hip-hop.

Want to support local record stores?  We hear Weirdo Records has a short stack of these records.  What could be more old-school than buying actual vinyl from an actual record store?

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