Zèraf!

Eténèsh Wassié : vocals Marc Deméreau : baryton sax, alto sax, screams Fabien Duscombs : drums, percussion Piero Pépin : trumpet, bugle, mélodica Mathieu Sourisseau : acoustic bass guitar, guitar, banjo, soubassophone Ever since its creation, the band Le Tigre des Platanes (the ‘Sycamore Tiger’) has been into travelling, in the image of the insect it draws its name from —the Corythucha ciliata, better known as the sycamore lace bug, which accidentally arrived in Europe in the early 1970s. Hailing from Toulouse in Southern France, this acoustic quartet has always proudly proclaimed its disorderly musical borrowings, blendings and appropriation of influences from other cultures. In 2001, Le Tigre des Platanes discovered the Ethiopiques series, and they soon included some chosen Ethiopian pieces in their eclectic repertoire, interpreting them in their own personal fashion. During a trip to Addis Abeba, they met Etenesh Wassie, a singer with a husky voice, a kind of Abyssinian sister of Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday. They undertook the challenge of playing together with beautiful Ethiopian standards, really exploring in a reciprocal way the new musical territories open to the five musicians and a world made of the true sum of their personalities.