Zjansiyoum Henok - Inevitable Ethio Soul

Zjansiyoum Henok was born and raised in Addis Abeba in Ethiopia, but is now living in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a very colourful and emotional singer with his musical roots deep down in the Ethiopian musical tradition. A tradition that he blends with some reggae and soul. Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most fascinating countries with a rich and special musical tradition that lately has been attracting attention in many different contexts. Artists such as Mulatu Astatke with his mellow and groovy ethio jazz has been the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch’s movie success “Broken flowers” and the legendary Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed is performing to sold out venues all over the world.

Zjansiyoum started his musical career as a little boy by singing in the church chorus of his school. In no time he became the solist of the chorus which gave him a unique chance to develop his voice and to enter deeper into the Christian liturgy. Today he is a deep, religious believer and a member of the Ethiopic-orthodox church, wearing dreadlocks just like the monks in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia. One of the oldest Christian parishes in the world can be found in Ethiopia, which is one of the foundations of Rastafarian believes.

In 1989 he came as a refugee to Sweden. Zjansiyoum were always singing to his friends and one evening he was talked into to perform at an Ethiopian wedding party, were he was a great success. After that he formed his first band, Lion Band, with two friends. Since then Zjansiyoum has performed in clubs, Ethiopian parties and in music festivals in Sweden and Europe, were he even has performed as opening act to artists such as Aster Aweke among others. He has also preformed with The Royal Philarmonics in sweden.

Zjansiyoum Henok’s debut CD “Guud” is a blend of Ethiopian retro pop with reggae, funk, rap and soulful ballads. The producer, Klas Jervfors has a long experience of world music, blues and jazz. The musicians on the CD are well known names like Max Shultz, Zilver Zurf, Desmond Foster, Brynn Settels, Sebastian Notini among others.

The lyrics talk about Ethiopia’s rich, but often forgotten history and about the treatment you receive as an Ethiopian immigrant in Europe and the USA. The lyrics also have a religious message and call for a change in the Ethiopian society. The CD was recorded in the legendary, analogue studio RUB-A-DUB in Stockholm, mixed by Internal Dread who has worked with artists such as Papa Dee, Dag vag, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Dennis Bovell and Robyn among many others.