The Addis Ken Project

The Addis Ken Project ("Addis Ken" means "New Day" in Amharic) is a musical quartet led by legendary vocalist and saxophonist Abate Berihun and international pianist and composer Roy Mor, playing Spiritual Ethio-Jazz infused with deep groove. Established in 2018, the group performs original compositions that fuse Jewish-Ethiopian soul music and prayers passed down through generations with ageless spiritual texts. It is a thrilling encounter between ancient Ethiopian traditions and the legacy of a modern jazz ensemble - marked by musical adventurousness, deep groove, and the spirit of the blues.
Described as "The Ethiopian John Coltrane," Berihun serves as a direct link to the Golden Age of Ethiopian Jazz. With a distinguished career spanning over four decades, he is a former collaborator with giants like Mulatu Astatke and Mahmoud Ahmed. In this project, he leads an all-star quartet featuring Mor’s intricate piano work, bassist David Michaeli (of the ACT trio SHALOSH), and drummer Nitzan Birnbaum (Shai Maestro, SABA Project) - a unit defined by virtuosity and high-energy interplay.
The Addis Ken Project is dedicated to spiritual search, soulful groove, and heartfelt blues. This unique musical project has won the hearts of audiences across Europe, North and Central America, and the Middle East, and was described in the press as "a joy to behold... Addis Ken are something of a supergroup" (The Jerusalem Post). Their music lives on the seam between straight-ahead jazz, World Music, and Ethio-jazz as it melds age-old Ethiopian musical scales and sacred prayers sung in Ge’ez (the ancient liturgical language passed down for 2,000 years and now fading from memory) with contemporary jazz, afrobeat and modern rhythms.