Tilaye Gebre - Tilaye's Saxophone With The Dahlak Band

Recorded live with a single mic at Addis Ababa’s legendary Ghion Hotel, Tilaye’s Saxophone With The Dahlak Band is a raw, intimate snapshot of Ethio-jazz in its prime. Led by saxophonist Tilaye Gebre, a central but often unsung architect of the Selassie-era sound, the album captures the Dahlak Band’s nightly groove: mid-tempo Sub-Saharan rhythms, funk-inflected keys, Caribbean undertones, and long, spacious arrangements built for solo expression. Originally released on cassette, the recording retains its warm, unpolished immediacy, placing Tilaye’s soulful, commanding sax front and center. For listeners drawn to the lineage of Hailu Mergia and Mulatu Astatke, this is essential listening.