Todd Simon’s Ethio Cali Ensemble to give free Ethiopian jazz concert this Sunday at the Fowler Museum
courtesy of TODD SIMON
By marjorie yan
Aug. 8, 2011 12:23 a.m.
Since Todd Simon first heard the radio, he became interested in playing music.
At the age of 5, Simon taught himself how to play the piano. At age 8, he added the trumpet to his repertoire. Now, he is not only a music teacher at Community Charter Early College High School, but he also performs and arranges Ethiopian jazz.
This Sunday, the Fowler Museum will be hosting a free family art workshop and Ethiopian jazz concert, which will close out the “America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World” exhibition. The concert will open with a set by DJ Sonny Abegaze, who will play traditional Ethiopian jazz. Todd Simon’s Ethio Cali Ensemble will headline the evening with jazz music that incorporates the trumpet, saxophone, guitar and steel drums.
Both Abegaze and Simon said they hope their performances can showcase Ethiopian jazz to people who have never been exposed to it and who will open themselves up to new types of music.
“There are a lot of different rhythmic sounds. There’s a very Arabic sound, a spiritual and political element and definitely a huge funky aspect,” Simon said.
Te’Amir and Tutu Sweeney were originally scheduled to perform, but because of a scheduling conflict, Todd Simon’s Ethio Cali Ensemble was chosen to fill their performance spot.
When Simon found out, he turned to Te’Amir and Tutu Sweeney for advice on who he should include in the ensemble.
As a result, Simon said, Te’Amir recruited some of the best jazz musicians in Los Angeles.
“He recommended a bass player, Kirubel Assefa, who is from Ethiopia. I’d never met him before, but he’s doing rehearsal with us now, and it’s been a great match with our band,” Simon said.
UCLA alumnus Itai Shapira will also be part of the ensemble, playing the guitar. He said that coming back to perform a professional gig at his alma mater is a pleasure and makes him feel nostalgic.
“I’ve been at UCLA since I’ve graduated because my guitar teacher is there, so I’m always in Schoenberg. I love the campus, and I love the energy all around. I’m really excited to perform at the Fowler,” Shapira said. “It’s going to be more of a spiritual experience. “¦ It will have a very hypnotic kind of sound to it, and people are in for a real treat.”
Abegaze started his music career as a student and radio host at UC Santa Barbara in 2003. Growing up with his parents exposing him to Ethiopian jazz, Abegaze’s mixes focus around world folkloric music.
According to Abegaze, it wasn’t until an exchange program he participated in during winter break of 2002 that he really became interested in the music and creating mixes.
“I went to Ethiopia for six weeks for winter vacation. I (was) exposed to (the country’s) music, and that’s when I started collecting all of it. I started a radio show while I was in Ghana at the university there,” Abegaze said.
According to Simon, one of his major aspirations is to make music while combining cultures. When Simon was a student at the California Institute of the Arts, he said he had an epiphany that, if one combined culture with a song, it would be a symbol of unity.
“If more than one culture could mesh well with sounds of music, then those cultures could get along and forget their history or past. It’s a great way to open up people’s ears to cultures they might not have heard of before,” Simon said.
“For example, combining a Jamaican beat with an Ethiopian groove ““ someone might have never heard it but might enjoy it.”
