Gatefold. Tilaye Gebre is one of Ethiopia's most soulful saxophone giants, with a musical legacy that's hard to surpass. A founding member of the Equators, later renamed the Dahlak Band, he was a key figure in Ethiopia's vibrant hotel music scene and a sought-after musician and arranger for artists like Aster Aweke, Mahmoud Ahmed, Tilahun Gessesse, and Muluken Melesse. In the quiet storm of Ethiopian music in the mid- to late-1970s, Tilaye Gebre was some-thing of the eye at the center. Even though much of the music from that period has been ridiculously hard to excavate from history, chances are that if you pick up any gem recorded in Addis Ababa during those times, it features Tilaye on saxophone and his arrangements. Tilaye was a central figure in Ethiopia's vibrant hotel music scene, where creativity and innovation flourished. He later joined the legendary Walias Band, with whom he toured extensively across the United States. It was during one of these tours that Tilaye made the pivotal decision to remain in the U.S. and further develop his musical craft. His artistry has since taken him around the world, with performances in major cities across Europe, Canada, and the Virgin Islands. From the late sixties onwards, Dahlak Band lit up Addis Ababa with a mixture of James Brown and Wilson Pickett tunes, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and the sound of the disco era -- mixed with modern Ethiopian styles -- serving up majestic concoctions with full-range instrumentation, featuring trumpet, keyboard, saxophone, bass, drums, and guitar. Through their hotel sessions, Tilaye developed further as an arranger, arranging fellow band member Muluken Melesse's first solo album, Muluken Melesse with the Dahlak Band, recorded during the turbulent years of 1975-1976, following the fall of Haile Selassie. Some of the Dahlak Band's releases featured Tilaye as frontman, such as Tilaye's Saxophone with the Dahlak Band from the late 1970s -- typical of a rare groove on the Ethiopian scene -- with excursions into reggae territory, including the band's characteristic sound featuring Tilaye Gebre (tenor and alto saxophone), Dawit Yifru (organ), David Kassa (electric guitar), Shimelis Beyene (trumpet), Moges Habte (tenor saxophone), Abera Feyissa (bass guitar), Tesfaye Tessema (drums), and Muluken Melesse (cowbell). The Dahlak Band's output was so prodigious that they simply couldn't be pigeonholed.