Walias Band
Walias Band | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Wallias Band The Walias |
| Origin | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Genres | Ethiopian music, funk |
| Years active | Early 1970s–1990s |
| Labels | Amha Records, Kaifa Records. Buda Musique |
| Past members | Mahmoud Aman Melake Gebre Hailu Mergia Girma Beyene Temare Haragy Yohannes Tekola Tilaye Gebre Mulatu Astatke |
Walias Band (sometimes spelled Wallias Band; Amharic: ዋሊያስ ባንድ) were an Ethiopian jazz and funk band active from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. Formed by members of the Venus Band, Walias backed up many prominent singers with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker. In 1977 they recorded one of the few albums of Ethiopian instrumental music in collaboration with vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, whose role as a bandleader and composer was also a major influence on Ethiopian popular music.