JAzmaris

Ethio-jazz in Melbourne

JAzmaris is a Melbourne-based Ethio-jazz ensemble, described as nine-piece on its promo page and in a 2017 review, though other sources say fewer. The name plays on jazz and azmari, the traditional Ethiopian musicians. The founder is the pianist Daniel Atlaw Seifu, trained at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa and the Ethiopian National Theatre, who moved to Australia in 2007; the singer and dancer Seble Girma fronts the group. They pay tribute to Ethio-jazz, mixing originals with compositions by earlier Ethiopian composers.

In January 2013 they were asked to back Mahmoud Ahmed on his Australian tour, including Arts Centre Melbourne and MONA FOMA in Hobart. On January 9, 2016 they backed Alemayehu Eshete in two shows at the Fairfax Studio, and on May 14, 2017 they backed Mahmoud Ahmed and Ali Birra at the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne. We found no releases. The German band Jazzmaris is a different act.