let's talk about ethiopiques 21 - ethiopia song/piano solo

http://www.aquariusrecords.org/cat/internationalafrica.html

NPR did an interview with the Ethiopiques series curator last summer:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5560216

can't find it on their site though!

Haven't made it down the page yet, I'm still stuck on the samples of vol. 19 (Mahmoud Ahmed). I'd forgotten how much I love this stuff.

Critics' Choice
New CD's
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou
"Éthiopiques 21"
(Buda Musique)

The pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou is an Ethiopian nun. And her background was not as a popular musician: her upbringing was high-society all the way. In the 1940's she studied in Cairo, under a Polish classical violinist who was at one time the musical director of Emperor Haile Selassie's Imperial Bodyguard Band. Returning to Ethiopia at 21, she was to study in England, but the emperor stepped on the plan. Her hopes crushed, she burrowed into religion. She seems to have made five records of her own music, between 1963 and 1996, and has donated all the proceeds to the poor. She lives in an Ethiopian convent in Jerusalem.

Why does this lovely record seem destined for some kind of long cult life, and what is it doing in a column devoted to pop and jazz? It is the new volume of "Éthiopiques," an astounding series of folkloric and pop music from Ethiopia that doubtless draws more listeners from popular than classical music. But there's another reason, too. While the sound of this musician's pensive, repetitive drawing-room études owes something to Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy — although they are studded with little arpeggios special to Ethiopian music — there is a dusky, early-blues quality to much of it. If you've heard some jazz, you could think it was written by Mary Lou Williams or Duke Ellington in their own moments of making their own quiet, original drawing-room music. BEN RATLIFF

bbc doc about emahoy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08mb1ft + https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/17/ethiopia-93-year-old-singing-nun-emahoy-tsegue-maryam-guebrou

cool

Ethiopiques S/D

Some talk on other Ethiopiques thread about Ethiopian church pianists as well

Girma Yifrashewa

Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebrou also mentioned there as well

She's even more charming than I could imagine.

haha yeah ... and good to hear she's got a bunch of other recordings stockpiled.

https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/emahoy-tsegue-maryam-guebrou/

A very nice essay. First time I heard her, it felt like I'd known the music for a hundred years.