Abatte Barihun

He was discovered by Moshe Bar-Yuda, then head of the TOMER NGO, and formerly (1957) one of the first Israeli emissaries to Beta Israel communities.

Bar Yuda brought Barihun together with musicologist Shlomo Israeli, who was deeply touched by Barihun's playing.

Israeli paired Barihun with jazz pianist Yitzhak Yedid, a successful match that gave rise to the "Ras Deshen Ensemble".

Barihun and Yedid's ensemble is named after the Amharic name of Ras Dashen mountain, the highest mountain in Ethiopia.

Abatte Barihun (אבטה בריהון, born 1967) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer.

His sound is reminiscent of John Coltrane's, who has highly influenced Barihun.

Barihun was born in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia to a Jewish family.

His house resided next to the music school of Addis Ababa University, as well as a nearby military base.

Young Barihun fell for the march sound of the saxophones and other wind instruments emerging from the neighbouring military brass band.

He got a saxophone and joined the music school, where he was exposed to the albums of Charlie Parker and others.

By the age of 16, Barihun joined the Ethiopian military band, with which he toured through Ethiopia and the Eastern Bloc.

Mengistu Haile Mariam once sent him to play at Kim Il-sung's birthday in North Korea.

This period in his life came to an abrupt end six years later, when the band's bus was ambushed by EPRDF forces, rebelling against Mengistu's Marxist dictatorship.

Most band members were killed in the prolonged attack, and Barihun was wounded by two bullets.

For eight years Barihun kept playing every night at the Hilton and Sheraton hotels of Addis Ababa.

He also played in the Ethiopian National Theater and toured with Mahmoud Ahmed.

At the age of 21 he established his own Jazz band, with which he toured Europe three times a year.

His last European tour ended merely three weeks before his aliyah to Israel.

Barihun joined his family in Israel on 1999, leaving behind his ex-wife and their son Nahum.

His dream - being a musician in Israel - has proven difficult to realize.

Facing a language barrier and alimony, Barihun worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant through the day and as a night security guard.

His fingers were burned by dishwashing detergents, hindering his practice with his saxophones.

Ras Deshen's premiere concert took place in September 2001 on a festival in Tel Aviv.

In September 2002 the duo recorded its self-titular maiden album, which was released in 2004.

The album was hailed by music critics and was rated among the two best Israeli jazz albums of the year.

The album blends free jazz with four musical modes used in the Ethiopian Highlands, comprising the qenet modal system.

Three of these modes - Bati, Tezeta and Ambassel - originate from the Wollo region in the Ethiopian Highlands, where most of the Jewish community has concentrated.

The fourth mode, Anchi Hoye, is used in religious music.

which is the Jewish Ethiopian synagogue, as well as in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

It is also used in wedding music, as well as in courting songs, love songs, and battle songs.

Two tracks in the album are composed in this mode: Anchi Hoye and Nafkote.

"Anchi Hoye", the opening track, was composed by Barihun, reflecting his deep feelings for his beloved.

Barihun's tenor saxophone opens with a style referencing both John Coltrane and Lester Young.

Four minutes into the song comes a piano solo by Yedid, which was described as "so reminiscent of Keith Jarrett that his solo could be dropped seamlessly into the grooves of The Köln Concert".

"Nafkote", the sixth track, is a traditional longing song.

Here Barihun first sings in Amharic, a feat he has not practiced back in Ethiopia.

Yedid's piano traces the rhythm for about two minutes, then starts improvising on the scale.

About a minute later Barihun improvises on top of Yedid's piano for about two minutes, then concludes with the traditional song.

Bati is a market town in the southern part of Wollo, in the Oromia Zone, between the Ethiopian highlands and the Great Rift Valley.

Ras Dashen belongs to the rugged Semien Mountains, where Ethiopian Jews defended themselves against persecutions by the Christian Emperors of Ethiopia through the 14th-17th Centuries.