Muzikawi

07/08/2025

😍😍😍

Exclusive t-shirt and vinyl from Ethiopia's legendary Ibex Band now available at shop.nts.live 🇪🇹

An Ibex Band Special: In Conversation is now airing on channel 2, featuring a rare interview with core members Giovanni Rico and Selam Seyoum Woldemariam. Catch the on-demand show from tomorrow.

05/08/2025

This makes us so proud and happy! Tune in!

Presenting the story of Ethiopia's legendary Ibex Band 🇪🇹

In a series of special broadcasts across this Thursday and Friday, 7th and 8th August, we're exploring the sounds and untold stories behind the band that helped shape modern Ethiopian music. Including a rare interview with core members Giovanni Rico and Selam Seyoum Woldemariam, and a special two hour deep dive into their best music – tune in from 11am BST this Thursday.

🛒 The reissue of their seminal 1976 LP Stereo Instrumental Music, and a limited edition tee are now available on the shop for NTS Supporters.
Dropping for everyone else on Thursday

19/05/2025

Good times in Addis with our longtime friends . Wonderful to see you reunited and back on stage again!

10/05/2025

This is what the Ibex Band’s Stereo Instrumental Music looked like when it was originally released on cassette in 1976 (Ge’ez Year 1968), distributed by Sun Shine Music Shop. The re-release of the album was made in close collaboration with Selam Woldemariam and Giovanni Rico to ensure that the band’s legacy is finally being properly told throughout the entire process. For example, a new cover and visual presentation were created, depicting all the band members who participated in the original recording on the front cover–unlike the original cassette release, which featured only their instruments.

Much of the material, including the original master tape and photographs, comes from Selam Woldemariam’s archive. However, key contributions also came from our friends and collaborators at the Andemta Collective & Online Magazine in Addis Ababa. They provided essential research and archival material for the re-release, including this scan of the original cassette and these pages from vintage magazines featuring the Ibex Band—along with the typographic logo of the band’s name with a collage of the members inside, which we used for the new front cover. Thanks again Endriyas!

Andemta is an online magazine that highlights Ethiopian literature, art, music, and architecture. Be sure to visit andemta.com to learn more about their amazing work (content in Amharic only).

14/04/2025

ያለፈው ሳምንት የአይቤክስ ባንድን ’ስቴሪዮ ኢንስትሩመንታል ሚዩዚክ’ አልበምን አስመልክቶ የተዘጋጀውን ሊስኒንግ ፓርቲ ለመታደም ትሪስት ካፌ ለተገኛችሁ የሙዚቃ አፍቃሪያንን በሙሉ ምስጋናችንን እንገልጻለን:: ጆቫኒ ሪኮ እና የሙዚቃዊ ዋና ስራ አስፈፃሚ ሳሙኤል ሙሉጌታ ጋር የቃለምልልስ በማድረግ ዘሪፖርተር ለዝግጅቱ ሽፋን ሰጥቶታል:: ሙሉ ዘገባውን ድረ-ገጻቸው ላይ እንድታነቡ እንጋብዛለን!

የአገር ውስጥ አድማጮች ሸክላውን አስቀድሞ ለማዘዝ የሚከተለውን ቅጽ (ወይም ባዮ ላይ ያለውን ቅጽ መጠቀም ይችላሉ)::
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdyfIf5zy_VExEuUgLRHlnf5788gtPmGzN6IjRjKBKOcPq5gg/viewform

Thanks to the music community of Addis Ababa for joining us at last week’s listening party for the Ibex Band’s Stereo Instrumental Music at Tryst Café. The event was also featured in The Reporter Ethiopia, with interviews featuring the Ibex Band’s Giovanni Rico and Muzikawi’s Samuel Mulugeta—Read the full article on their website!

For pre-orders of the 2LP for local custumers in Addis Ababa, please use the link above.

08/04/2025

ፊታችን ሐሙስ የአይቤክስ ባንድን 'ስቴርዮ ኢንስትሩመንታል ' በድጋሚ ታትሞ መለቀቅ አስመልክቶ በትረስት አዲስ የምናካሂደው ሊስኒንግ ፓርቲ ላይ እንድትገኙ እንዲሁም ከጆቫኒ ሪኮ ጋር የመገናኘት እድልን እንዲያገኙ ተጋብዛችሁዋል!

ቀድመው ሙዚቃዎቹን የማድመጥ እድል አያምልጣችሁ!

12:30 ላይ እንገናኝ! በእለቱ ለኢትዮጵያውያን የአልበሙን ሸክላ ለማግኘት አስቀድመው ማዘዝ ይችላሉ!
Join us for a Legendary Listening Party!
Muzikawi Presents: The Re-Release of “Stereo Instrumental Music” by Ibex Band
📅 Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Location: Tyrst Addis / Kazanchis
Be the first to experience the album before its official release on April 11th, and enjoy a meet-and-greet with Giovanni Rico!
We’ll also be accepting pre-orders for the vinyl at the event.
See you there!

27/03/2025

This is a vintage postcard of the legendary Ras Hotel in Addis Ababa, reposted from our friends (make sure to follow them for more amazing content like this).

The Ras Hotel and Ghion Hotel, where the Ibex Band held musical residencies, were to Ethiopia in general and Addis Ababa in particular what Motown was to the USA and Detroit a few years earlier—a hotbed of musical creativity and showmanship.

The Ibex Band was the first band in Ethiopia to employ a four-track recorder for the recording Stereo Instrumental Musicat the Ras Hotel ballroom, in collaboration with Karl-Gustav Lundgren, a Swedish national working for the Radio Voice of the Gospel, during two sessions in 1976 (Ge’ez Year 1968).

This album played a pivotal role in defining the sound of many of Ethiopia’s greatest stars from the mid-seventies onwards and has shaped modern Ethiopian music as we know it today.

It’s nothing short of a miracle that the original four-track recording of the album has been unearthed in perfect condition on a chrome cassette from ’s archives and is now being re-released for the first time. This is musical history coming alive—to set the future straight. Out on 2LP and digital on April 11th.

11/03/2025

The prolific Ibex Band, with Selam Woldermariam and Giovanni Rico at the creative helm, is featured in this month’s issue of in their Rediscovered column with the re-release of their 1976 album ”Stereo Instrumental Music.”

25/02/2025

Tune in and listen to this week's episode of weekly featuring an exclusive interview with the Ibex Band’s Giovanni Rico and Selam Woldemariam, by the great Andrew Jervis, speaking about the re-release of the album ”Stereo Instrumental Music”, and their contribution to shaping modern Ethiopian music as we know it today.

12/02/2025

የዘንድሮው አዲስ ጃዝ ፌስቲቫል ስኬታማ ነበር:: ድንቅ አጋሮቻችን የሆኑትን የስዊድን ኤምባሲ፣ ብሪቲሽ ካውንስል፣ የደስታ ቡና፣ ማክ ኢንተርቴይመንት፣ ዘመን ባንክ፣ዋትስ አውት አዲስ እና ካልቸር ክለብን እናመሰግናለን! ጃዝና ባህልን ለማክበር የተሳተፉ አገልግሎት ሰጪዎችንና ተመልካቾችንም ከልብ እናመሰግናለን! ይህ ፌስቲቫል ለእናንተ በእናንተ ምክንያት የተዘጋጀ ነው!

የሚመጣው ዓመት እንገናኝ!

The Addis Jazz Festival 2025 was a success, thanks to our amazing partners—the Embassy of Sweden, British Council, Yedesta Bunna, Mac Entertainment, Zemen Bank, WhatsOutAddis, and Culture Club! We are also deeply grateful to the artists, vendors, and everyone who joined us to celebrate jazz and culture. This festival is for you and because of you!

See you again next year!

SELAM Selam Ethiopia Embassy of Sweden, Addis Ababa British Council Ethiopia Zemen Bank S.C. What's Out Addis

Picture Credit - Sosina Mengistu