Conductor Tom Cohen never misses a chance to collaborate with friends and musical colleagues. This week, it’s “Tezeta” (“Nostalgia” in Amharit), a concert that melded the sounds of jazz and pop from Ethiopian music, with Ester Rada and Gili Yalo, two of Israel’s well-known singers, along with Cohen and his Jerusalem Orchestra East West. It’s an idea that’s been batted around for a long time, said Cohen, but never found the right moment, audience or location. Most of the concert was sung in Amharic, with Rada and Yalo as the soulful representatives of Ethiopian music in Israel. “Ester and Gili are familiar names but the audience doesn’t know what they’re going to hear, until they hear it.”

Source: Ethiopian News July 11, 2023 14:35 UTC