MUZIKAWI
Tilaye Gebre - Tilaye's Saxophone With The Dahlak Band (2026 Reissue) Tilaye Gebre
In the quiet storm of Ethiopian music in the mid- to late-1970s, Tilaye Gebre was something of the eye at the center. Even though much of the music from that period has been ridiculously hard to excavate from history, chances are that if you pick up any gem recorded in Addis Ababa during those times, it features Tilaye on saxophone and his arrangements.
A founding member of the renowned Equators, and later the Dahlak Band, Tilaye was also a central figure in Ethiopia’s vibrant hotel music scene, where creativity and innovation flourished. He later joined the legendary Walias Band, with whom he toured extensively across the United States. It was during one of these tours that Tilaye made the pivotal decision to remain in the U.S. and further develop his musical craft. His artistry has since taken him around the world, with performances in major cities across Europe, Canada, and the Virgin Islands. Along the way, he has collaborated with some of the greatest Ethiopian vocalists of all time — including Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke, Muluken Melesse, and others — bringing the sound of Ethiopia to global audiences. Notably, with the legendary Mahmoud Ahmed, Tilaye graced iconic stages such as Berklee College of Music in Oakland, Millennium Park in Chicago, Wolf Trap in Virginia, and the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City.
With the Dahlak Band, Tilaye had managed to secure a musical residency at the legendary Ghion Hotel, where they honed their skills and developed their musical expression to unparalleled levels. From the late sixties onwards, Dahlak Band lit up Addis Ababa with a mixture of James Brown and Wilson Pickett tunes, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and the sound of the disco era — mixed with modern Ethiopian styles — serving up majestic concoctions with full-range instrumentation, featuring trumpet, keyboard, saxophone, bass, drums, and guitar. Through their hotel sessions, Tilaye developed further as an arranger, arranging fellow band member Muluken Melesse’s first solo album, Muluken Melesse with the Dahlak Band, recorded during the turbulent years of 1975–1976, following the fall of Haile Selassie. Everything was in flux in this transitional period, but a constant was how Tilaye stood in the spotlight. On that record, there’s a loose vibe to the soundscape that lets Tilaye’s skills shine, while all the other musical contributions coalesce into a slowly cooking atmosphere where the groove at times fluctuates into psychedelic territory, making the music stand out from most contemporaries.
No saxophonist in Ethiopia influenced the sound of popular music more than Tilaye in the 1970s, yet his recordings have been hard to come by for ages, which has meant that newcomers to the scene have gems to uncover in retrospect. Arguably, Tilaye shifted gears when he relocated to the U.S. to such an extent that his musicianship became even more renowned, accompanying the greatest of his contemporaries internationally. Tilaye is one of Ethiopia’s all-time greats, with a musical legacy — both as musician and arranger — that’s hard to surpass. It’s a wonder to be able to enjoy a recording like this half a century later.
Track List
Ālibek’agnimi
Ānichī keto gidi yeleshimi
Tizita
Ts’igērēda
Ālichalikumi
Eyut sitinafik’egni
Feqresh yemench weha
Ye’āyinē tesifa
Tizi ālegni yet’initu
Pickup available at Cambridge
Usually ready in 24 hours. Unless it's a Pre-Order
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Relevant Record Café,
260 Mill Road
Cambridge,
CB1 3NF.
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If your record is deemed as faulty, you will be entitled to a refund, swap or store credit (to the same value as your initial purchase).
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Basically, please be absolutely certain the record you have purchased is faulty before following the returns procedure. If possible, we suggest testing the record on different turntables and weighting the tone arm differently.
Steepletone and Crosley Record Players
After having several “faulty” records returned to us (that in actuality had nothing wrong with them), we cannot guarantee that any records we sell will play correctly Crosley or Steepletone branded record players.