Jano Band


Jano Band is an Ethiopian rock band formed by its entrepreneurs Ermyas Amelga and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. A versatile for mixing rock fusion with traditional Ethiopian genre, the band includes two female back vocalists, two lead male vocalists, and six musicians who play bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drum, and keyboards.

Career

2011–12: Formation and ''Ertale''

The band was formed by entrepreneurs Ermyas Amelga and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. They performed in nightclubs and several venues in Addis Ababa. Jano's debut album Ertale was released in 2012. The album was named after an active volcano in Afar Region. The songs in the album were partly written by the renowned Ethiopian lyricist Yilma Gebreab and partly by them. This is the first ever rock album in Ethiopia. The audio and video of the song "Ayrak" from the album became quickly popular among the media in Ethiopia.

2013–17: Major achievements and further releases

After the release of the album, Jano had its debut show in April 2012 with shows at Sheraton Addis and the renowned Club H2O. Before they went on a big tour to Europe and the Americas, Jano had countrywide concerts in November at the regional cities of Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, Arba Minch, to introduce the unique sound nationally. Starting from mid-December, Jano began tour covering in Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, United States, and Israel and the Middle East.
In September 2015, Jano made live performance at Club H20, at the concert, they released "Darigne", vocal from Hewan, "Aynema Wedajish" and "Fikrish New Yegodagn" performed by Dibekulu and "Erikum" by Samuel. The video went viral on YouTube and viewed over one million users. In the wake of their fame, Jano furtherly released "Yinegal" in December 2015. In the music video, the band performs in rubble of house and upon travelling, their van stopped due to shortage of fuel and the group cooperate to push forward in order to active the motor.
In 2017, Jano also became the first Ethiopian band to feature on Coke Studio Africa alongside the South African singer Shekinah in Nairobi, Kenya.

2018–present: ''Lerasih New'' and upcoming projects

On February 1, 2018, Jano released their second album called Lerasih New, comprises sixteen singles. The album has met positive reviews, and won multiple awards. The engineering process of the album was done in BluMusica studio in Turin, Italy and the mastering was done by Lurseen mastering studio in Los Angeles, California, United States.
In October 2018, they released "Tikur Almaz" through Admas Music. The song gained numerous accolades internatinally. The music video, visualized in CGI, shows the group of warriors combating each others in order to protect Ethiopia.
In November 2019, the group released "Abeba Ena Nib", vocals from Dibekulu and Hewan Gebrewold. The song lyrics were composed by Yilma Gebreab, arranged by Andy Bete Zema, while mixing and mastering held by Abegazu Kibrework Shiota. The music video was directed by Samuel Tefera.

Musical style

The band combines the traditional Ethiopian music into the genre of rock to create wild type of music called Ethiopian rock. This new genre has attracted widespread attention from both local and international audiences.

Band members

The band includes two female vocalists, two male vocalists and other musicians. Its current members are:
Jano has performed in Ethiopia and abroad. In Ethiopia, they performed concerts in Addis Ababa, Arba Minch, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, and Mekelle. Internationally they have performed in Brazil, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United States, and United Kingdom.

Awards and nominations

Jano has been nominated for their single "Yinegal" on Leza radio listeners choice award in 2016. In addition to this, the band has also been nominated for best Artist/Duo/Group in African rock alongside the South African singer Loki Rothman and best African group alongside the Kenyan group Sauti Sol, and the Ivorian group Toofan on AFRIMA3.0 in the same year.