Ethiopian Review

Ken Schaphorst

Under the auspices of the Cultural Envoy program of the United States Department of State, American jazz musician and composer Ken Schaphorst has spent three weeks in Ethiopia performing with Ethiopian jazz, folkloric and modern musicians. In his trip to Addis Ababa, Schaphorst shared American and Ethiopian musical traditions and experience.

Schaphorst, head of the Jazz Department at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, conducted jazz performance workshops with students at the Mekane Yesus Jazz School, the African Jazz School, and the Yared School of Music at Addis Ababa University.

His performance also included companionship with professional musicians from the National Theater and Ethiopian police and military bands. Each of the workshops culminated in a concert, including an unusual outdoor performance held in the park in front of the National Theater on June 16 before an enthusiastic crowd of Ethiopian jazz lovers. At the concerts, Schaphorst and Ethiopian musicians played Schaphorst’s own compositions as well as renditions of Ethiopian classics such as Mulatu Astatke’s Yekermo Sew and the well-known folk tune Amalele. His performance was conducted with selected musicians from each of the workshops. Schaphorst also organized an ensemble to play special concerts at the US Ambassador’s residence and at St, Mary’s University College.

During his stay, the jazz legend also went to several of Addis’s famous jazz clubs and cultural restaurants and had the opportunity to travel outside of Ethiopia’s capital to visit the historic sites of Axum and Lalibela. In response to his intensive experience in Ethiopia, Schaphorst commented, “I have been extremely impressed by the level of jazz performance that I have heard in Addis Ababa. While working with Ethiopian students, faculty and professional jazz players, I have been continually struck by their enthusiasm and dedication.” He also added, “In addition to hearing evidence of the more traditional jazz styles, I am heartened and encouraged by the continuing commitment to the Ethiopian influence on jazz, initiated over 40 years ago by the legendary Mulatu Astatke. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Ethiopia. My visit to Axum and Lalibela only reinforced my growing respect for the rich cultural history of this country. In the future, I will do whatever I can to support and build on the strong musical foundation that I have witnessed here.”

The US State Department’s Cultural Envoy program supports American performing and visual artists, arts managers and educators during short-term residencies abroad to conduct workshops and master classes, present seminars, and put on performances in collaboration with local artists and cultural institutions. These activities are conducted in diverse fields such as film, sculpture, painting, cultural preservation and heritage, museum administration, theater, dance, music, arts management and education to build and strengthen cultural relationships between the US and foreign countries.

Ken Schaphorst is a founding member of the Boston-based Jazz Composers Alliance, an organization in the tradition of jazz composer-directed ensembles dedicated to the promotion of new music in the jazz idiom, trumpeter and composer. He has been awarded Composition Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Meet the Composer. Created in 1989, the Ken Schaphorst Big Band has featured many of today’s most notable young performers, including John Medeski, Uri Caine, Brad Shepik, Drew Gress, Donny McCaslin and Seamus Blake. The ensemble has released four recordings on Accurate Records: Making Lunch (1989), After Blue (1991), When the Moon Jumps (1994) and Over the Rainbow (1997). Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple, was released on Naxos Jazz in January, 1999. Schaphorst’s latest recording for Accurate, Indigenous Technology (2003), features Schaphorst’s playing on trumpet and piano in a trio setting with cellist Matt Turner and percussionist Dane Richeson.

– The Reporter