Hanging Out With Zena, London’s Energetic Ethio-Jazz Duo Yohannes and Menelik
By Adam CoghlanYohan Kebede and Menelik – together the duo that make up one of London’s most exciting new jazz acts – are connected: by a shared heritage, their mutual affection for Ethio-jazz, by family tradition, and by a want to instil in their refreshingly broad and energetic music “something fun, danceable, sexy, and risky.”
Their most recent EP – Temesgen, the Ahmaric word meaning “be thankful, thank god, be praised” – came out in March and Something Curated‘s Adam Coghlan sat with Yohan and Menelik at the latter’s family home in east London to discuss the project, their relatively nascent partnership, inspirations, backstories, and the significance of symbols and language.
Zena has been together for less than two years, a collaboration that came about by chance when Kebede who plays keys, was in need of a bassist last-minute for a gig in Dalston. Menelik, whose Ethiopian name Kebede had seen online, play bass and was happy to fill in. A year later, in the summer of 2025, Zena signed to Gilles Peterson’s label, Brownswood and started writing immediately, pledging to make music they wanted to listen to, not becoming an Ethio-jazz tribute act. Though their sound can be melodic, hypnotic and dreamscape-y, it is music that in their minds is designed for the club – upbeat and danceable. “There is nothing mellow about it; it’s fun,” Kebede says pointedly. IT’S YOU (ANTE NEH), which features vocals from Meron T, opening with the lines “In my memory / I wanna be where you are / Right there in my dreams / Thinking ’bout you there you are,” encapsulates their range – poetic, trance-like, indelible. Though both cite the likes of Shuggie Otis and D’Angelo as inspirations, theirs is a sound that is rooted in London, the city both men grew up in and still call home. Both have been to what they refer to as the city’s “creative, improvised music scene,” which has produced the likes of collective Kokoroko, which Kebede has been a part of for the past nine years.
Together they now see themselves as belonging to an Ethiopian musical tradition, “on the cusp of defining the conception of East African music” and its utility in contemporary culture among the diaspora and beyond. “We want to take people on a journey,” Menelik says, with a sheepish smile. Temesgen.
Below you can listen to the EP and learn about the objects both believe tell their story.
Manalemosh Dibo, Atinkubegn cassette
Yohan Kebede: This is our favourite ever Ethiopian artist. ‘Atinkubegn’ broadly means ‘why would anyone leave their home unless there was a problem, unless something pushing me away?’
When I was a kid my mum had an Ethiopian restaurant and 90 percent of what was played there was Manalemosh Dibo. She made just one album and died young. It’s energetic, fun and encapsulates everything we want our music to feel like. Someone found this cassette in Ethiopia and I treasure it – I can never lose this thing.
Tascam
Menelik: We used this to manually dub our first project which took a month. We only made 100 copies.
A lot of Ethiopian music in the ’60s and ’70s, the Ethio-jazz heyday, was released on cassette. So it’s nice for us to connect with that tradition in our own music.
Bass
M: This is actually three different basses mashed together over time and it’s way better than the sum of its parts.
Gondar
YK: Both of our mums are from Gondar, we realised soon after meeting. People from this part of Ethiopia are particularly proud. My mum is small, but loud and proud. She and the people of Gondar have a strong philosophy of what Ethiopian music should be.
Meskel
YK: These orthodox crosses are dotted all over the house. This one is in my living room at home and it’s older than all of my siblings.
A lot of Ethiopians are orthodox Christians, so we grew up eating no shellfish, no pork, no prawn cocktail Walkers crisps. I went crazy at uni, eating smoky bacon crisps though.
We have all these special days: when Mary ascended to heaven, when archangel St. Michael wrestled with the devil. My mum would drag us up at sunrise, at 5 a.m. to pray. Now I’m in my mid-20s I’m beginning to sound just like her, when I say things like, “God willing; if God allows it.”
Or, again in Amharic, ‘temesgen.’ The EP could not have had any other name.
You can follow Zena on Instagram, check here live shows and upcoming releases. They will play We Out Here festival in August.
Adam Coghlan is an editor at Something Curated. Header photograph by Adiam Yemane.