{{short description|Ethiopian jazz band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Debo Band | image = File:Debo Band Philly 2016.jpg | caption = Debo Band, playing Philadelphia in 2016 | image_size = | alias = Debo | origin = Boston, Massachusetts, United States | genre = Ethiojazz <br> Ethiopian music | years_active = 2006–present | label = Sub Pop<br>FPE Records | associated_acts = Fendika<br>Qwanqwa<br>Devil Music Ensemble<br>Stick and Rag Village Orchestra<br>Fat Day<ref name="Parrish, 2010" /> | website = [https://debo.band www.debo.band] | members = | past_members = }}
'''Debo Band''' (also known simply as '''Debo''') are a Boston-based Ethiopian music band led by saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by vocalist Bruck Tesfaye.<ref name="CMA, 2016" /> Ranging from 10–12 members playing horns, guitars, violins, percussion, and accordion, their sound incorporates Ethiojazz, folk, and pop styles from the Horn of Africa infused with tinges of motifs from Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as punk, experimental, and psychedelic rock.<ref name="Hog Eye Man, 2012" /> ''Rolling Stone'' described Debo's sound as, "guitar solos, massed vocals, violin and brass [that] rush in like a Red Bulled marching band...Dance at your own risk."<ref name="Hermes, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Hermes|first1=Will|title=Asha Gedawo|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/asha-gedawo-20120312|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418164023/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/asha-gedawo-20120312|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2012|accessdate=16 December 2016|agency=Rolling Stone|date=12 March 2012}}</ref>
==History==
thumb|left|Saxophone player Danny Mekonnen and singer Bruck Tesfaye performing with Debo Band in 2014 Sudanese-born saxophone player Danny Mekonnen had grown up in Texas listening to his parents' home taped Ethiopian pop cassettes.<ref name="Eyre, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Eyre|first1=Banning|title=Debo Band: Ethiopian Funk, Reinvented|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/13/158709685/debo-band-ethiopian-funk-reinvented|accessdate=15 December 2016|work=All Things Considered|agency=NPR|date=13 August 2012}}</ref> In middle school he became obsessed with American jazz of the 1950s and 1960s, poring over records by John Coltrane and Miles Davis and went on to study and play jazz at the University of Texas.<ref name="Hog Eye Man, 2012">{{cite web|last1=Man|first1=Hog Eye|title=Interview: Debo Band|url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/danny-mekonnen-of-debo-band|website=Tiny Mix Tapes|accessdate=16 December 2016|date=20 June 2012}}</ref> In the early 2000s he moved to Boston to attend Harvard University and being gigging in Boston's diverse music scene.<ref name="Eyre, Sep 2012" /> In wanting to musically connect to his Ethiopian-American heritage, Mekonnen assembled a trio with vocalist Bruck Tesfaye to learn a few Ethiopian pop songs.<ref name="Hog Eye Man, 2012" /> They sought to expand the group and recruited members of Boston's recently defunct Stick and Rag Village Orchestra, a group of self-taught musicians who'd played old-time circus tunes, as well as klezmer and Balkan brass standards as part of the burgeoning radical street band movement.<ref name="Richards, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Richards|first1=Chris|title=Debo Band prepares to serve Ethiopian jazz fusion to the masses|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/debo-band-prepares-to-serve-ethiopian-jazz-fusion-to-the-masses/2012/07/05/gJQAByt4RW_story.html|accessdate=22 January 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=5 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Parrish, 2010">{{cite news|last1=Parrish|first1=Matt|title=Ethiopiqued|url=http://thephoenix.com/boston/music/96163-ethiopiqued/|accessdate=15 December 2016|work=Boston Phoenix|agency=The Boston Phoenix|date=26 January 2010}}</ref> They worked out several tunes from the canon of Ethio-pop and jazz heard on the ''Éthiopiques'' compact disc series and recruited local members of the Ethiopian community to sing. "These were amazing people who had completely internalized the rhythms and melodies that we were struggling to learn," Mekonnen told ''The Boston Phoenix''. "You couldn't say, 'Come in after four bars.' They didn't know what a bar was. It was an adventure for everyone."<ref name="Parrish, 2010" /> After many performances for the Ethiopian community, Bruck Tesfaye stayed on as the band's permanent singer, and the group took on the name "Debo" meaning "communal labor."<ref name="Eyre, Sep 2012">{{cite web|last1=Eyre|first1=Banning|title=Interview with Debo Band's Danny Mekonnen|url=http://www.afropop.org/5287/interview-with-debo-bands-danny-mekonnen/|website=Afropop Worldwide|accessdate=16 December 2016|date=24 September 2012|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220155454/http://www.afropop.org/5287/interview-with-debo-bands-danny-mekonnen/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
For their first few years Debo Band remained in Boston's underground music scene, sharing bills with hip hop and experimental music acts in basements, small clubs, and at loft parties around the city.<ref name="Eyre, Sep 2012" /> While Debo began as a primarily acoustic outfit—saxophones, brass, violins, accordion, and *[https://deboband.com/best-electronic-drum-set/ drums] —they eventually added electric bass and guitar to create a fuller sound that brought them to play bigger venues.<ref name="Eyre, Sep 2012" /> With the help of ''Éthiopiques'' curator Frances Falceto, the group traveled to Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zanzibar in 2009 and 2010 for performances at large world music festivals, often to crowds who had never before heard Ethiopian music.<ref name="Hog Eye Man, 2012" />
[[File:Fendika and Debo in Philly 2010.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Debo Band performing with Fendika in 2010]] In 2010 Debo self-released their first EP, a 4-song collaboration with the group Fendika from Addis Ababa with whom they toured the U.S. and Eastern Africa.<ref name="Dyroff, 2010">{{cite news|last1=Dyroff|first1=Denny|title=Music of Ethiopia at Philadelphia show|url=http://www.dailylocal.com/article/DL/20100918/ENTERTAINMENT01/309189989|accessdate=15 December 2016|agency=Daily Local News|date=18 September 2010}}</ref> The CD featured covers of well-known Ethiopian jazz and pop tunes by Walias Band, Mahmoud Ahmed, and others, half of which were recorded in Africa, the others in the United States.<ref name="Hog Eye Man, 2012" /> Following a pair of singles with B-sides remixed by DJ Kiddid, Debo Band's self-titled first full-length album was released by Sub Pop Records in 2012.<ref name="Spoto, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Spoto|first1=Alex|title=Debo Band's Danny Mekonnen on His Music's Ethiopian Roots|url=http://www.spin.com/2012/07/debo-bands-danny-mekonnen-his-musics-ethiopian-roots/|accessdate=15 December 2016|agency=SPIN|date=12 July 2012}}</ref> Produced by Thomas Gobena of the group Gogol Bordello, the record draws heavily from Ethiopia in the early 1970s, with original songs, reworkings of Ethiopian folk melodies, covers of hits by Alèmayèhu Eshèté, Mahmoud Ahmed, Muluqen Mellesse, and Bezunesh Bekele, plus instrumentals by Getatchew Mekuria rearranged to have the sax man's scales played by a duet of violins.<ref name="Eyre, Sep 2012" /> National Public Radio named the record one of their 50 Favorite Albums of 2012.<ref name="CMA, 2016">{{cite web|title=Debo Band|url=https://www.clevelandart.org/events/music-and-performances/debo-band|website=Cleveland Museum of Art|accessdate=15 December 2016|date=23 June 2016}}</ref>
For the band's tenth anniversary, Debo released their second album ''Ere Gobez'' on Chicago-area label FPE Records. Named for a fervent battle cry known as "the call of the lionhearted", 'the record offered a faster, harder-hitting sound than their first album, with many nods to various band members' backgrounds in ethnomusicology.<ref name="MacLeod, 2016">{{cite web|last1=MacLeod|first1=Erin|title=Debo Band: Ere Gobez Album Review {{!}} Pitchfork|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21949-ere-gobez/|website=Pitchfork|publisher=Pitchfork Media|accessdate=16 December 2016}}</ref> One song, "Blue Awaze," mashes up part of Duke Ellington's Far East Suite with the sound of Addis Ababa's legendary Police Orchestra. Another song, "Rafaad iyo Raaxo," pats tribute to Somalia's Dur Dur Band of the 1980s. The track “Hiyamikachi Bushi" bridges Ethiopian and Okinawan music as arranged by the band's accordionist Marië Abe, and in 2016 Debo became the first non-Japanese group to enter the song in Okinawa's annual International Competition of Hiyami Kachi Bushi.<ref name="Peavey, 2016">{{cite news |last1=Peavey |first1=April |title=The song that helped Okinawa heal after WWII gets an Ethiopian remake |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2016/05/25/connection-between-japan-and-ethiopia-are-made-song |access-date=22 August 2018 |work=Public Radio International |date=May 26, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Mitter, 2016">{{cite news|last1=Mitter|first1=Siddhartha|title=Debo Band confronts trying times with heady, hearty sounds – The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2016/05/12/debo-band-confronts-trying-times-with-heady-hearty-sounds/xWhO0gxy02GK9MgV7zVBAP/story.html|accessdate=15 December 2016|work=Summer Arts Preview|agency=Boston Globe|date=13 May 2016}}</ref> ''Pitchfork'' called ''Ere Gobez'', "a big, brave roar, song after song...a powerful, and, perhaps, inspirational record."<ref name="MacLeod, 2016" />
==Related projects==
While in Ethiopia, Debo Band scored the 2009 film ''Lezare'' ("For Today"), sound engineered by Debo's bass guitarist, PJ Goodwin.<ref name="SAC, 2010">{{cite web|title=Debo Band|url=http://www.somervilleartscouncil.org/artbeat/2010/deboband|website=Somerville Arts Council|accessdate=16 December 2016}}</ref>
In 2018 Debo backed Ethiopian vocalist Ayaléw Mèsfin for concerts in the U.S.<ref name="Gilbert, 2018">{{cite news |last1=Gilbert |first1=Andrew |title=Ayaléw Mèsfin, a lost voice from Ethiopia's Golden Age |url=https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/02/09/ayalew-mesfin-lost-voice-ethiopias-golden-age |accessdate=22 August 2018 |work=Berkeleyside |date=9 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="Ribakoff, 2018">{{cite news |last1=Ribakoff |first1=Sam |title=Two Ethiopian Music Legends Bring Ethiopian Jazz and Funk to Los Angeles |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/two-ethiopian-music-legends-bring-ethiopian-jazz-and-funk-to-los-angeles/ |accessdate=22 August 2018 |work=OC Weekly |date=13 February 2018}}</ref>
Debo violinist Kaethe Hostetter lives in Addis Ababa where she runs the Ethiopian String Center and plays in the bands QWANQWA and Zena Bel, the latter with members of Fendika.<ref name="Tsehai NY, 2011">{{cite web|title=Kaethe Hostetter—Debo Band Veteran–Finds Roots in Ethiopia with Zena Bel Band|url=http://tsehainy.com/4444|website=Tsehai NY|accessdate=16 December 2016|date=21 January 2011|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220175056/http://tsehainy.com/4444|url-status=dead}}</ref>
As of 2021 Debo saxophonist Danny Mekonnen is working on a solo project called Dragonchild with a quadruple LP slated for release on FPE Records in 2021.
==Members== * Bruck Tesfaye: vocals * Danny Mekonnen: saxophones * Gabriel Birnbaum: tenor saxophone * Danilo Henriquez: trumpet and percussion * Stephanie Baird: trombone * Jonah Rapino: electric violin * Kaethe Hostetter: five-stringed violin * Marié Abe: accordion * Brendon Wood: guitar * Arik Grier: sousaphone * PJ Goodwin: bass guitar * Adam Clark: drums<ref name="Romero, 2016">{{cite news|last1=Romero|first1=Angel|title=Resilient Ethiopian Grooves: Debo Band – Ere Gobez|url=http://worldmusiccentral.org/2016/03/06/resilient-ethiopian-grooves/|accessdate=8 February 2017|work=World Music Central|date=6 March 2016}}</ref>
==Discography==
;Albums * "Gedawo" 7" with DJ Kiddid (Electric Cowbell Records, 2011)<ref name="Tambini, 2011">{{cite news|last1=Tambini|first1=Kam|title=Audio: Debo Band 'Gedawo (Kiddid Remix)' {{!}} OkayAfrica|url=http://www.okayafrica.com/audio/audio-debo-band-gedawo-kiddid-remix/|accessdate=8 February 2017|work=OkayAfrica|date=13 October 2011}}</ref> * ''Debo Band'' CD/2xLP (Sub Pop/Next Ambiance 2012)<ref name="Peisner, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Peisner|first1=David|title=Debo Band, 'Debo Band' (Sub Pop)|url=http://www.spin.com/2012/07/debo-band-debo-band-sub-pop/|accessdate=8 February 2017|work=Spin|date=8 July 2012}}</ref> * ''Ere Gobez'' CD/2xLP (FPE Records, 2016)<ref name="Romero, 2016" />
;Singles and EPs * ''Flamingoh: Pink Bird Dawn'' CD EP with Fendika (CRC Edition, 2010)<ref name="Johnston">{{cite web|last1=Johnston|first1=Alastair|title=The Horn of Africa|url=http://www.muzikifan.com/ethiopia.html|website=Muzikifan|accessdate=8 February 2017}}</ref> * "Adderech Arada" 7" with DJ Kiddid (Electric Cowbell Records, 2010)<ref name="Tasias, 2010">{{cite news|title=Debo Band Gears Up for U.S Tour With Fendika at Tadias Magazine|url=http://www.tadias.com/08/18/2010/debo-band-gears-up-for-u-s-tour-with-fendika-azmari-artists-from-ethiopia/|accessdate=8 February 2017|work=Tadias Magazine|date=18 August 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://debo.band Debo Band's website] * [https://deboband.bandcamp.com Debo on Bandcamp] * [http://www.fperecs.com/catalog/debo-band Debo on FPE Records]
Category:Musical groups from Massachusetts Category:Sub Pop artists Category:American world music groups Category:Musical groups established in 2006