Artful Ethiopia: Israeli artists with Ethiopian roots get a chance to shine in Jerusalem

Still, as the next generation came along, and then the third, and grew up speaking fluent Hebrew without even a trace of accent – regardless of the mode of conduct adhered to on the familial domestic scene – they had, by and large, become full-fledged Sabras. And they were accepted as such by their peers.

Treading gingerly into shark-infested socio-political waters, there is the unavoidable matter of skin color and how that affects the way Israelis from different cultures take that on board. It isn’t always pretty, which implies an inherent element of discrimination – if not naked racism – and that from a Jewish people which has been through more than its fair share of tribulations across the millennia from “master races” and the like.

The event was conceived and founded by veteran Confederation House CEO Effie Benaya, who, despite being a born and bred Sabra with no personal connection to the community, recognized the need to give Israeli-Ethiopian artists a stage on which to strut their stuff.

This year’s festival takes place on September 9-11 at the host venue, The Mazkeka in downtown Jerusalem, and The Yellow Submarine and the Shalem Dance Center in Talpiyot.

BENAYA MAY not have himself experienced the perilous odyssey braved by many Jewish Ethiopians, on foot to Kenya, at the mercy of all manner of thugs and mendacious profiteers, en route to the Promised Land. But with his open ears and finely honed musical sensibilities, he quickly latched onto his first taste of pertinent ethnic fare.

That came courtesy of Abate Berihun, a seasoned saxophonist-vocalist who had worked with some of the titans of the global jazz scene in Addis Ababa before making aliyah. Yours truly had the honor and privilege of being the first Israeli journalist to interview Abate as he is known professionally.

That was in 2002, when he teamed up with now-Australia resident globally acclaimed composer-pianist Yitzhak Yedid for their Ras Deshen project, named after the highest mountain in Ethiopia. Confederation House duly hosted the show, based on the eponymous CD.

In the interim, Abate has gained elder statesman status in Ethiopian music and Ethio-jazz circles, and paved the way for a couple of generations of Israeli-Ethiopian artists.

That includes 32-year-old saxophonist Eshete Malade, who features on this year’s Hullegeb roster. On September 9, he joins forces with fellow Ethiopian-born musician, keyboardist Yossi Marsha and Israeli-born saxophonist Nadav Haber. The latter started out in jazz and gradually found his way into the thick of the Ethiopian musical mix, and apparently even has a good command of Amharic. As he is married to an Ethiopian woman, perhaps that makes for good marital communication.

Malade made aliyah at the age of 11, and he quickly discovered there was more than milk and honey here. “I lived in Beersheba, and I took a lot of stick from kids,” he says. Two decades on, and as a veteran of an IDF combat unit, the saxophonist looks back on those challenging formative years with a degree of hard-earned sagacity. “I don’t blame those children,” he notes. “Who knows what they’d been told [about Ethiopians] by their parents? But at the time, it wasn’t nice at all.”

Malade, naturally, is aware of the fact that people continue to first take stock of the color of his skin before getting to know him. Does that make him feel like an outsider, regardless of his personal achievements and the progress he has made in his life to date? Besides performing as a professional musician, he is also studying for a teacher’s diploma and intends to earn a crust as a school music teacher.

“There are lots of solutions to that,” he contends. “The problem is that we haven’t changed. That doesn’t mean we have to change our skin color or culture. We have to do something about the social hierarchy.”

Education and professional advancement, he feels, can help in that regard. “Professional and financial development are important. That will change things. You can’t change anyone else from the outside. You have to be the change yourself, and reflect that.”

Presumably, getting on a stage and playing Ethiopian music or, for that matter, jazz and performing as a skilled artist could go some way toward resolving that embedded social discriminatory state of affairs. Which, of course, makes Hullegeb and other outlets for Israeli artists with Ethiopian roots all the more valuable, even if, according to Malade, that doesn’t provide all the remedial goods. I suggested that anyone with even a smidgen of a negative view of members of the Israeli-Ethiopian community, who comes – say – to the trio’s show at The Mazkeka next week might very well be impressed with the artistic wares and simply relate to Malade and Marsha as bona fide musicians with something of value to offer.

“That can make a slight change. But I don’t think you can really change a racist. But if you change yourself, the racist will have no alternative and will have to accept and respect you,” he reasons.

BENAYA WAS keen to cast his artistic directorial net as far and as wide as he possibly could. “For me, it started with music with Abate. And then I met Nadav Haber, who enlightened me a lot about Ethiopian music. And, of course, there is Ethiopian dance, which is very important.”

That discipline features prominently in this year’s program, with “Maharen-Neh” performed by Dege Feder and Zvika Hizkias along with the Beta Ensemble, while the Zu-Etiopia trio will offer the Confederation House audience a multi-genre taste of dance styles and traditions from different parts of Ethiopia.

Increasingly, rap has provided young Ethiopians with an artistic outlet for some of their socio-political frustration, much as it served young folk from housing projects in Detroit and elsewhere. Benaya was hardly going to miss out on that, with Teddy Neguse hosting fellow rapper Michael Cohen, aka Cohen Beats, in the festival curtain-raiser at The Yellow Submarine.

Benaya also feels that Jerusalem is the perfect spiritual hub, as well as the physical home base, for Hullegeb.

“Jerusalem is the place the Ethiopian Jews pined for before they came here,” he notes. “Their aliyah was a very Zionist aliyah, and their goal was to reach Zion, Jerusalem. And, of course, the Sigd holiday is celebrated in Jerusalem. Their prayers all mention Jerusalem. It is the Holy City. And now we have the Hullegeb Festival here, in Jerusalem.”

Not just in Jerusalem. As we sat and chatted in Benaya’s spacious office in Confederation House, we could look over at the sturdy timeworn walls of the Old City, sparkling in the late summer sun just across the Hinnom Valley, with David’s Tower standing sentinel over the ancient site and the bustling sprawl of west Jerusalem.

THE CAPITAL is clearly the place for a festival that has been celebrating and showcasing the fruits of Israeli Ethiopians who have influenced Israeli artists across numerous disciplines and genres, which includes established musicians such as bassist-producer Yossi Fine and veteran Iraqi music trailblazer Yair Dalal, both of whom feature in next week’s lineup, alongside Abate.

Considering our dire political and emotional circumstances, one would have thought the folks with their vested interest hands on the national purse strings would be more than happy to buoy our spirits with a dab of quality entertainment from time to time.

For tickets and more information: (02) 539-9360 and www.confederationhouse.org