Akalé Wubé

Akalé Wubé is a French band that plays tunes from or inspired by music popular in Ethiopia in the 1960s and '70s.

The group began its exploration of Ethio-jazz influences by recreating the songs they'd heard on producer Francis Falceto's 'Éthiopiques' series of recordings. The band's name comes from a song by the saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya, and means 'my beautiful' in the Amharic language - the official language of Ethiopia.

Since the formation of the group in 2008, it has released five albums of Ethiopian-influenced music including finally making it to the series of albums that had been their main driving force: 'Éthiopiques'. The album 'Mistakes On Purpose' - released in 2017 as a collaboration with the Ethiopian songwriter, composer and musician, Girma Bèyènè - is the 30th release in the Éthiopiques series. Akalé Wubé and Bèyènè have regularly toured and gigged together since 2017.