Jah-Era (era of the Gods) or in Portuguese (Already Was).
Started in 1994 in Perth WA, originally for a very short period of time named OPEN, playing a mixture of ROCK, AFRICAN, LATIN and REGGAE music around Perth with members Angelo Madeira (East Timor) on lead and vocals, Phill Irwin (Aboriginal) on drums and Gavin (Australian) on Bass and vocals, three piece band and shortly after Ashy (Ghana) joined in percussion.
The band was invited to play at Bob Marley outer national day with the condition that the band would only play Reggae and African based music, the band agreed with the condition that the band would change the name for that event which both party’s agreed.
The band agreed on the name Jah-Era (Jah) in Jamaican meaning God. The band proved to be a hit on that event and more gigs was booked from that event so the band decided to keep the name Jah-Era known from that event until present.
The band played extensively in pubs around Perth and in festivals and released an album O HEROI (The Hero) very successful, the song China Mulata was the most popular in East Timor and still very popular.
In 1999 while playing in Sinju festival in Broome the good news came that East Timor had finally gained independence, upon returning to Perth most of the members of the band returned to East Timor to work for the likes of UN, UNDP, UNHCR, amongst other organisations and NGOs to help rebuild the country after the country was burned to the ground by the Indonesians and the Militias where many thousands of Pro-Independence East Timorese people including civilians were killed.
As well as performing around East Timor including 1st ever Celebration of Independence Day as the opening Act.
The band has gone through some changes in the line-up.
Originally
Angelo Madeira – lead guitar, vocals; Phill Irwin – drums; Gavin – Bass, vocals; Ashy – Percussion
Late addition
Nidio Valadares – rhythm guitar; JP Madeira – bass; Robert Filipe – rhythm guitar vocals; Maria Madeira – vocals, backing vocal; Grace Barbe – vocals, backing vocals
Currently the line-up is
Angelo Madeira – lead guitar, vocals; Phill Irwin – drums; Nidio Valadares – rhythm guitar; Jhon Soares – bass, vocals
Maria Madeira – vocals, backing vocal
The band is now settled in Perth WA still performing mainly at special events but not as extensive as before due to personal commitments.
The band is now settled in Perth WA still performing mainly at special events.
