Eshee Havana

Eshee Havana : a unique group of Ethiopian and locally based international musicians who combined their talents and experience to pioneer “Ethio-Salsa”, a new and ground-breaking hybrid sound which fuses Ethiopian and Latin music.

Eshee Havana’s authentic sound was a direct outgrowth of the founder and band leader, Tim Dodd's, long-standing passion for Latin music, followed by his discovery of, and experience with, Ethiopian music.

Having created and led the popular salsa / latin-jazz band Balangandan in London for over eleven years, and having studied with legendary Latin percussionists such as Giovanni Hidalgo, Orlando Poleo, “Changuito” and Tata Güines, Tim travelled to Ethiopia in 2005.

After several years of immersion in Ethiopian music - playing with popular national singers including Aster Aweke, Tedros Tadesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Teddy Afro - Tim received a call from the talented and experienced Ethiopian drummer Teferi Assefa, encouraging him to fulfill his long endeavour to establish a Latin band in Addis Ababa and promising his precious and invaluable support as one of Ethiopia’s most respected, creative and inspired drummers.

This led to the creation of Eshee Havana.

The band premiered in June 2010, at the first Acacia Jazz Festival introducing Ethiopians to popular Cuban songs such as 'Pa’ Gozar' and 'Ran Kan Kan', with lyrical translations into Amharic.

The group then grew in strength, adding established Ethiopian bass man Joe Mengiste and equipping itself with a powerful horns section (Edi Stevens, Feleke Hailu & Wolfgang Zebe) and popular female vocalist - Bitik Emlaelu. The new line-up’s second appearance at the Acacia Jazz Festival in March 2011 was enthusiastically received, and the group’s popularity continued to grow - with the later additions of guitar (Markku Keski-Maenpaa), alto saxophone (Dr. Jonovan Cooper) and male vocalist (Vahe Tilbian).

Eshee Havana established themselves as a leading local band, performing regularly in various venues and turning heads to their distinctive repertoire of Ethio-Salsa, as well as exposing the Addis Ababa community to the new genre’s roots in salsa, merengue and latin-jazz. The band became an integral part of the vibrant Ethiopian jazz scene, whilst their commitment to musical innovation placed them at the forefront of progressive music in the country.

Eshee Havana’s goals were firstly to combine the power and passion of salsa with the alluring and mystical sound of classic Ethiopian songs through their new and exciting genre of Ethio-Salsa, and secondly, to introduce this innovative fusion to as large a cross-section of people as possible, both locally in Ethiopia and to the international music community.

The band grew and personnel changed over time with Eshee Havana always attracting vibrant new talented young Ethiopian musicians.

Thank you to all who were involved in this inspiring project and it’s wonderful journey ! 🙏

Songs :

Belomi Benna :

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/89wDkBRXxgX8ur756

Manisero :

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/nfATXqnmQyT9J9Ex8

Derra :

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/7j6BtBfu8PiJUvP86