Ethiopian music and culture in general have been in the spotlight here for many years. It should be, given that this country has evolved and become an incredibly diverse melting pot of cultures, incorporating olim from all over the world.
Part of that is due to Confederation House’s overall arts venue, which is under the stewardship of longtime CEPO and artistic director Effie Benaya. He has championed Ethiopian artistic endeavors through the annual Fregev Israel-Ethiopia Arts Festival and by hosting Ethiopian-Israeli bands and musicians at Confederation House.
The festival has provided a stage for a wide range of dancers, theatrical productions, and musicians. It has also welcomed established giants of the Israeli entertainment scene, including internationally renowned Iraqi-born violinist, oud player and singer Yair Dalal, and renowned bassist and producer Yossi Fein.
The movement of Ethiopian-Israeli performers has also been aided by the success of stars such as world-famous vocalist Estelle Rada and popular Ethio-jazz saxophonist and singer Abbate Belihun (also known as Abbate). The latter will be on stage at Confederation House on May 16 (8:30 p.m.), alongside the Tesfa (Amharic for “hope”) sextet and vocalist Tombola Teikre, who performs under his real name alone. .
Since Tombola made Aaliyah in 2022, the singer and Abate’s outfits have been touring the country quite frequently. The Gondar-born singer was already well-established in his home country before moving here, and the connection with Abate is a natural next rung on his professional ladder and life in his new home. The perfect saxophone for jazz and classical music (Credit: PR)
Passion for music since childhood
He got the earliest start on his life path when his parents decided to call him Tombola, which means “lucky” in Amharic. He clearly has natural talent and has worked the extra yard or two to build his career, but there has also been some luck here and there.
Lady Luck may have had something to do with the fact that Tombola’s first profitable port of call was virtually in his backyard. He could hardly avoid it. “He started attending music school at the age of 11,” he recalls. “It was right near my house. I could hear their songs from my house.”
It piqued the boy’s interest and appealed to his young ears, and with a little help on the street level, his musical colors soon took shape. “One day, some kids on the street asked me to sing something,” Tombola says. “Then I realized I had talent.”
A local conservatory was his next port of call, where he began honing his vocal skills and also took classical piano lessons. Although he started out as one of the gangsters, he quickly rose to the limelight. “The other kids realized I could sing, so I became a soloist,” Tombola smiles. “I didn’t know I could sing until then.”
Formal Discovery Tombola set out to make use of his God-given gifts. He studied the works of Beethoven and Mozart, among others, but was also mentored by internationally acclaimed Ethiopian pop singer Abebe Teka. “He really inspired me,” Tombola says. “He’s an international star.”
Tombola continued to open his ears and mind to all kinds of genres and styles, taking up jazz piano during his fourth year at music school. Still, she says it was the singer who was chasing her. “I listened to jazz vocalists and singers from other regions,” he explains.
He soon put the skills he honed in music school into the field, performing in nightclubs and various venues across Ethiopia, earning a living as a professional musician for about 15 years before immigrating to Israel.
He says he didn’t have a clear idea beforehand of what he was going to do here professionally. “I didn’t know much about Israeli music. I knew about Abate, but I didn’t know much more than that.” But once I set my sights on making aliyah, I did some homework. I started. “I registered to come to Israel and had a year to learn about Israeli music,” Tombola says. “I fell in love with Israeli singers.”
After landing here, he wasted little time tracking Abate and the two hit it off. “I was introduced to him and we started working together right away. Abate is a legend to us.”
In fact, Abate paved the way for many Israelis with Ethiopian roots. He was one of Ethiopia’s leading jazz artists before making aliyah 25 years ago. Although he performed in Israel with all of the top American artists coming to Japan, his life in Israel got off to a rocky start. His inability to speak Hebrew was a problem, but he found himself making a living as a night watchman and a restaurant dishwasher. Here his problems in resuming his musical career were compounded when the dishwashing detergent he used damaged the skin on his fingertips, leaving him unable to practice the saxophone. Fortunately, Moshe Bar Judah, who was the Jewish Agency’s special envoy to Ethiopia and president of the Ethiopian Jewish Heritage and Culture Association, joined the effort, and Abate quit his restaurant job to pursue music. I raised money so I could go back.
Bar Judah also introduced Abate to the musicologist Shlomo Yisraelli, who arranged a wooing between Abate and the famous new music composer and pianist Yitzhak Yedid. Together they formed the Ras Deshen Duo, delving into the liturgical music of Ethiopia’s Qeshim Judaism, blues, and jazz. This marked the beginning of Abate’s musical renaissance here, and he has continued to perform his jazz shows ever since.
Tombola is here to focus on promoting Ethiopian roots music. “Ethiopian music has a special scale,” he says. “I would like to introduce it to an Israeli audience and to people all over the world.”
For now, Tombola is proud to be a bona fide member of the Israeli music community, and to have the opportunity to proudly share his work with us and listen to what those around him are doing. I feel happy. “There are great musicians here. There are a lot of world-class artists here. It’s great to be a part of that.”
Audiences at Confederation House are sure to be entertained as Tesfa moves between traditional and contemporary styles, performing Ethiopian folk melodies and iconic songs from the golden age of Ethiopian music. Tombola, Abate and others will provide a much-needed joie de vivre with plenty of toe-tapping, hip-shaking beats and sounds in Jerusalem.
For tickets and more information: (02) 539-9360 and www.confederationhouse.org
