DESCRIPTION:
I suspect JANO Band is set to take the Ethiopian music scene by a veritable storm. The band is simply one of the best things to come out of the country in 2012. Keep an ear out for the awesome baseline, the vocals, lyrics (below), the freakin' energy. Here's what I thought when I first heard the single Ayrak (Amharic word literally meaning "let it not be too long"): I dig Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Tom Morello, and even more Ethiopia's music. Then out of nowhere JANO comes along and brings it all together. It's brilliant and it works.

The band's upcoming album, "Ertale," is slated to be soon released. To sample other cuts from the CD, check the band's website (janoband.com). Several songs from the sampling sound great, including a cover of the greatest Girma Beyene's classic "Enken Yelelebesh."

The lyrics below are from JANO's website. I welcome comments but will not tolerate incivility, especially toward our artists. Please enjoy.

Ayrak
አይራቅ የምትመጪበት ቀን
አይራቅ የምትመጪበት ቀን
አይራቅ የመገናኛው ቀን
አይራቅ የምትመጪበት ቀን
ፀሃይ ካይኖቼ ስትጠፋ
ነገን ስጠብቅ ሁሌ በተስፋ
ያ ነገም ነግቶ ይመሻል
ሁሉ መቶ አንቺ ብቻ ቀርተሻል
አይራቅ....(Chorus)
በምሽት ወታ ጨረቃ
ደምቃለች ካይኔ በጣም እርቃ
ውበቷ ስቦኝ ባያትም
ካልመጣሽ ደስታን አላገኛትም
አይ ራቅ....(Chorus)
አንቺ ጨረቃ (እንዲ ነሽ እንዲያ ነሽ)
ታምሪያለሽ በጣም (እንዲ ነሽ እንዲያ ነሽ)
ምን ብናፍቅሽ (እንዲ ነሽ እንዲያ ነሽ)
ቤትሽ አልመጣም (እንዲ ነሽ እንዲያ ነሽ)