Abatte Barihun

Abatte Barihun (Hebrew: אבטה בריהון‎, born 1967) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer. His sound is reminiscent of John Coltrane's, who has highly influenced Barihun. Barihun was born in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. His house resided next to the music school of Addis Ababa University, as well as a nearby military base. Young Barihun fell for the march sound of the saxophones and other wind instruments emerging from the neighbouring military brass band. He got a saxophone and joined the music school, where he was exposed to Western Jazz albums of Charlie Parker and others. By the age of 16, Barihun joined the Ethiopian Military band, with which he toured through Ethiopia and the Eastern Bloc. Mengistu Haile Mariam...