ADDIS ABABA: Heaps of twisted iron, piles of ash and a charred microphone are all that remains of Jazzamba, the iconic Addis Ababa nightclub that revived Ethiopian jazz after it all but disappeared under communist rule.
The fire that destroyed the venue in January has left Ethiopia's vibrant and growing jazz scene in disarray.
"I still do not believe it," said musician Misale Legesse, a regular performer at the wood-pannelled club inside the Taitu Hotel.
The century-old hotel, one of the most historic buildings in the city, gained fame as the setting for Evelyn Waugh's 1938 satirical novel about foreign correspondents, "Scoop".
But the Jazzamba bar inside brought prestige of another sort as it fostered a resurgence of the Horn of Africa's unique jazz style -- a genre created in the 1960s by music legend Mulatu Astatke, who fused jazz with traditional Ethiopian music.
"For me, it was not just a club, it was my school, where I learnt everything and played with the greatest," Misale said.
Three nights a week, the young musician would play with the big names of Ethio-jazz, such as Alemayehu Eshete or Bahta Gebrehiwot.
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