In 2008 bandleader Jeroen Visser (Switzerland) found himself jamming with Mesele Asmamaw (Ethiopia) and Fabien Duscombs (France) at various venues in the cultural Kazanchis district of Addis Ababa. The inescapable electricity that flowed whilst jamming led them to form Trio Kazanchis, an ode to the district that has brought and continues to bring together many talented musicians and dancers.

With Fabien holding down lively beats from a vast directory of lively grooves, multi-instrumentalist Jeroen adding a spirit of experimentation and punk rebellion, blended with Mesele’s mastery and innovation on the traditional krar, the result is a psychedelic tinged jazz funk.

Trio Kazanchis released their first album Amaratch Musica in 2012 on Buda Musique‘s Ethio-Sonic, the label known for its Ethiopiques series.

They labelled their music ‘Ethiopian traditional impro punk’ whilst African reviews mentioned them as African jazz’s answer to The Who. They toured Switzerland, France, Holland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and China. In between they made their way back Ethiopia to tour where they found themselves playing in Kazanchis again. Endris Hassen, one of the best Ethiopian masinqo players joined the group, hence Trio Kazanchis was extended as Trio Kazanchis +1. This led to their second album ‘Dinkenesh’, released in 2014. Their third album, titled ‘Sheger’, is now being recorded and due for imminent release.