The only remaining Armenian musician, Vahe, sings in Ethiopia’s modern music scene.
The 18th Addis International Film Festival (AIFF) opened in May 2024 with “TEZETA”, a captivating documentary journey that explores the heart of Ethiopian big band orchestra music.
The film traces the unlikely origins of modern Ethiopian jazz – Emperor Haile Selassie’s adoption of 40 Jerusalem orphans (descendants of the Armenian Genocide), which paved the way for the first royal imperial band.
Their music became the backdrop for Ethiopia’s first national anthem and the popularization of brass instruments. But that’s not all—the documentary delves deeper, exploring a jazz revolution that swept the nation before the dark days of the communist Derg regime. This is a nostalgic journey revisiting the haunting and seductive melodies of a lost era while highlighting the contribution of Nerses Nalbandian, a tireless teacher who inspired many of Ethiopia’s jazz greats like Alemayehu Eshete, Girma Negash, Mulatu Astatke, and others who reminisce about their teacher’s influence and modern Ethiopian music.
Nalbandian’s daughter Salpi reflects on her trials and tribulations living in Addis Ababa for over three generations, seeing the country’s musical greatness, and the dark injustices she has had to endure, being imprisoned for four years.
The only remaining Armenian musician, Vahe, sings in Ethiopia’s modern music scene, hoping to reconcile his issues with identity, and coping with the loss of memory, as much of Addis Ababa’s city development changes the landscape and the remembrance of this unique cross-cultural symbiosis.
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