Walias Band
| Walias Band | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Wallias Band The Walias |
| Origin | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Genres | Ethiopian music, Funk |
| Years active | Early 1970s-1990s |
| Labels | Amha Records, Kaifa Records. Buda Musique |
| Associated acts | Venus Band, Mulatu Astatke, Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed |
| Past members | Mahmoud Aman Melake Gebre Hailu Mergia Girma Beyene Temare Haragy Yohanese Tekola Tilaye Gebre Mulatu Astatke |
Walias Band (sometimes spelled Wallias Band; Amharic: ዋሊያስ ባንድ?) were an Ethiopian jazz and funk band active from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. Formed by members of the Venus Band, Walias backed up many prominent singers with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker. In 1977 they recorded one of the few albums of Ethiopian instrumental music in collaboration with vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, whose role as a bandleader and composer was also a major influence on Ethiopian popular music.
Walias formed in the early 1970s in Addis Ababa where they were the house band for the upscale Hilton Hotel. A civilian curfew made it dangerous for clientele visiting the hotel lounge to leave after 11:00 PM, and Walias would end up playing two or three sets until 6:00 AM the next day. In 1981 Walias became the first modern Ethiopian band to travel to the United States, playing on a tour with singer Mahmoud Ahmed primarily to audiences of Ethiopian refugees. Rather than returning to Ethiopia under its dictatorship, four members of Walias—Girma Bèyènè, Mogès Habté, Mèlakè Gèbrè and Hailu Mergia—stayed in the U.S. and formed a new group called Zula Band. Mergia took work in Washington DC driving a taxi cab, often practicing in his cab while waiting for fares at the airport, and released solo cassette tapes of traditional Ethiopian music played on analog synthesizer, electric piano and accordion. Meanwhile the members of Walias who returned to Ethiopia—Yohannes Tèkola and Tèmarè Harègou—continued to play together under the Derg dictatorship for another decade.
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