Date: Monday, 25 February 2019
Many of you have seen him around on stage as he makes his rounds during special Eritrean events such as Independence day, festivals, etc… Dawit Tesfamariam is a quite and humble behind the scenes guy who performs amazing sounds through his sax. Dawit was born and grew up in Eritrea during the time of the war for independence. Dawit’s first love was drawing and he began sketching at a very young age. He then attended the Asmara Comprehensive secondary school where he got more education in the fine arts. As Dawit got older he got the opportunity he was waiting for when the EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front) gave him an opportunity to join its cultural troupe where he was able to learn music. He was specifically being trained to become a Saxophone player and his journey began in 1990 a couple of months before operation Fenkil.
Dawit Tesfamariam Performing at an Eritrean
independence day event.
It was not too long after that and the long awaited independence day happened on May 24th, 1991 and Dawit like most Eritreans went back to Asmara where he began studying at the University of Asmara. After a couple of years of touring around Eritrea and further collaborating and improving his skills as a saxophonist, Dawit moved to the United States where he also continued to be heavily involved with his music by performing for the large diaspora community. Dawit’s smooth flow through his sax has also been used by many others for their recording studios and his excellent sounds can be heard on many different songs.
In 2004 Dawit came up with his own album titled “Saturday Night” Translated in tigrinia “Kedam Mishet”. While most of the arrangements were popular songs from several of Eritrea’s top singers Dawit added a couple of original compositions of his own and one of them was the title of the album “Saturday Night”.
The beauty and magic of the entire album with historic Eritrean/EPLF tunes auch as “Baburay” from Wodi Shiekh and more is a thing to behold with deep wonder and appreciation. The other songs in the album are intangibles that stir, excite, soothe, caress, and whisper to the heart and soul.
Dawit’s soothing 2004 Jazz album featuring new and old compositions.
Recently Dawit was making his rounds on social media as he drew a couple of pictures and posted them for everyone to see. The first time this writer saw the art work of Dawit’s drawing left me in awe. His composition and skill for talent clearly shows that Dawit is not just a great Saxophonist but also an incredible artist. People started to notice very quickly and lo and behold, Dawit was just coming out of his shell to share with the world, his other talent to draw and sketch beautiful drawings that have great potential for art exhibitions.
One of Dawit’s many drawings.
Continue to support Dawit as he embarks on a journey to share his vision thorugh art, while his Saxophone talents continue to empower us as a people and community. Dawit Tesfamariam is truly a gift to the Eritrean nation & people and his ability through music and art has clearly demonstrated that he has a great future. His art drawings can contribute so much in exposing the beauty that is Eritrea.
Michael Seium
