Ibex Band Stereo Instrumental Music documents a pivotal moment in Ethiopian popular music, preserving rare instrumental recordings by the group later known as The Roha Band. Active from the mid-1970s onward, Ibex Band were a tight, disciplined unit whose sound underpinned some of Ethiopia’s most enduring vocal stars, while also supporting major figures including Mulatu Astatke.
Emerging from the earlier Soul Echos group, Ibex fused international influences such as Motown and The Beatles with Ethiopian musical traditions, developing a concise, rhythm-driven style that set them apart from the much larger ensembles common at the time. Their consistency as a six- to seven-piece band gave their recordings a clarity and focus that still resonates.
The sessions that became Stereo Instrumental Music were shaped by circumstance. Limited recording resources and a rapidly changing political climate meant this material could only have been captured during a brief window before equipment disappeared and musical life in Ethiopia became increasingly restricted. Rather than disband, Ibex adapted—touring widely across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and continuing to perform even under curfew conditions.
Long celebrated by broadcasters, critics and collectors, Stereo Instrumental Music stands as a rare, clear-eyed document of a band whose influence far outweighs the fragments of its recorded legacy.
Pickup available at Dreamhouse Records London
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