Last night, the whole crew, well almost the whole crew went to Jazzamba lounge. A jazz lounge in Addis that has live jazz 7 days a week. Kevin, my supervisor proposed the idea and the ever helpful Country Manager here at CPAR-Ethiopia organized the night for us. It was a very interesting place to visit. First off, Jazzamba lounge is attached to the oldest hotel - Taitu Hotel - in Ethiopia. Located in an area called Piazza, this seems to be somewhat in the downtown area. The place was packed with loads of Ethiopians and a few ex-pats scattered throughout. Apparently it is packed every night. Seems like a place for the upper class to go and hang. I know what you're thinking, Ethiopian upper class? What about all the starving people I've seen on tv. We can discuss that later but for now, let's focus on the music.
Last night's performer was Alèmayèhu Eshèté also knows as the Ethiopian James Brown or the Ethiopian Elvis. He has been making music for decades and is a legend in the jazz scene. He was pretty cool. The band was really good and a colleague translated some of the lyrics of his songs. We only stayed for the first set because it was a pretty late night but I think everyone had a good time. The hotel was quite cool too. Despite the high class clientele and overpriced food, it had the worst washroom I've used so far. But I digress. There was a cool gift shop with a range of Ethiopian inspired art and great people watching. I think the Ethiopian mob might have been enjoying the show that night too. I don't actually know that there is such a thing but there was a group of about 8 men, who had 1 man save their seats for about 1.5 hours before they showed up and they had bottle service. Yes you read that right, bottle service. Oh and iPhones. So whatever images of Ethiopia you have in your head thanks to Live Aid, adjust them a little.
In summary, the music was good. I got to see some of the downtown - think bright lights, big city. And now there is just one day left. I've started trying to take some pictures...still not going well but I'll have a few. Tomorrow we're going to a museum to check out some history so hopefully I'll have something to say about that.
Good night.
Last night's performer was Alèmayèhu Eshèté also knows as the Ethiopian James Brown or the Ethiopian Elvis. He has been making music for decades and is a legend in the jazz scene. He was pretty cool. The band was really good and a colleague translated some of the lyrics of his songs. We only stayed for the first set because it was a pretty late night but I think everyone had a good time. The hotel was quite cool too. Despite the high class clientele and overpriced food, it had the worst washroom I've used so far. But I digress. There was a cool gift shop with a range of Ethiopian inspired art and great people watching. I think the Ethiopian mob might have been enjoying the show that night too. I don't actually know that there is such a thing but there was a group of about 8 men, who had 1 man save their seats for about 1.5 hours before they showed up and they had bottle service. Yes you read that right, bottle service. Oh and iPhones. So whatever images of Ethiopia you have in your head thanks to Live Aid, adjust them a little.
In summary, the music was good. I got to see some of the downtown - think bright lights, big city. And now there is just one day left. I've started trying to take some pictures...still not going well but I'll have a few. Tomorrow we're going to a museum to check out some history so hopefully I'll have something to say about that.
Good night.
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