Ethiopiques S/D

after four or five listens, vols. 6 and 7 (single-artist both) really started to grate, though it's been a couple years since I played either; maybe I'd change my mind now. kinda doubt it, though.

At the time, his classic album (the one this this volume is based on tho it adds a few ultra-rare tracks) was out of print, (I was lucky enuf to have the vinyl) and very few ppl in Addis were still familiar with him. Though wenever I played him while DJing everyone loved it, he was still mostly forgotten. In the last few years though there has been a huge revival in his career, he’s playing weekly now, the rights to the album were acquired after years of trying (making this available) and this past January we were able to hold the album release party in Addis in the context of a festival dedicated to him as a tribute. The man has been playing for over 50 years and is a consummate performer and musician.

I’ve been raving abt the album on other threads and keep having to retrain myself so I don’t go overboard but to anyone who is interested in this series you have to but this disc.

I’ll dig up pictures from the festival and post ‘em later.

Jeff - and anyone else- I realised when i pulled up disc that I have approx. 1000 pics from the festival (different sources) so it'll take me a day or so to pick some out. I also remembered I have a couple of video clips (i think recorded on Quicktime) but have no idea how to make 'em available if anyone is interested. If so, pls. let me know how post 'em. thx.

I shouldn't buy any more CDs in the next couple of months, the way I've been going*, but I'm going to have to get this anyway.

* it'd be a lot more efficient if I just deposited my paycheque, withdrew it all in cash and threw it out the window

What is your address? And is there a web site that tracks wind patterns in Quebec?

Actually, I'm working on putting a Europe & US tour for him as I belive so much in him and hearing positive stuff like this is essential in keeping me going against all the obstacles.

Funny seeing above post 'coz yesterday I actualy googled Sun Ra and Ethiopiques to see if anyone had seen any similarities with any of the stuff.

I found Mahmoud Ahmed's Ere Mela Mela a while ago and it's great.

I am interested in reading more about the history of Ethiopian music, specifically the relationship between the music and Ethiopian culture/politics/geography. Has anyone found any web resources, books, or articles that are insightful?

http://www.rootsworld.com/reviews/book-abbys.shtml

More sounds ...

http://www.aitrecords.com/

I am looking for information on Hirut Beqele, but have found only mentions of her participation in Ethiopiques.

Anybody have links?

(hi Mark)

thanks, sydney

Getachew spent part of last fall touring with The Ex and the ICP Orchestra for the 25th anniversary of The Ex. went great from all reports and they want to keep up the collaborations.

for those who are interested, for last year's festival i had invited Boston based big band Either/Orchestra and they'll be playing with Mulatu Astatqe (featured on Vol. 4) at Joe's Pub in NYC on March 15, def. well worth going to.

posting the press release below and for anyone who can't make but is interested there is a full concert they did together in the WNYC online archives. think the date was Nov. 12 2004.

Steve, there is supposed to be a March 18,19 show but venue is not set yet afaik

MULATU ASTATKE & THE EITHER/ORCHESTRA WITH GUEST DJ TIMAJ SUKKER

Monday March 14
9:30 PM & 11:30 PM
$20

Featured artists include:
Mulatu Astatke
Either/Orchestra http://either-orchestra.org

One of Ethiopia's major musicians, Mulatu Astatke studied in London, Boston and New York, in the late 1950s and returned home to invent Ethio-jazz, which stands with various South African and Nigerian styles as the most successful fusion of jazz and African music. Astatke is most notably featured in the acclaimed Ethiopiques series Vol. 4. The Grammy- Nominated Either/Orchestra is among the longest running and highly respected large ensembles in jazz. Since 1985, under the direction of saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon, the ten-piece has traversed the length and breadth of jazz to make unexpected connections between styles and approaches to music, including Ethiopian music and jazz.

In early 2004, as the first US big band to play in Ethiopia since Duke Ellington in 1973, the E/O met and collaborated with Mulatu. It was a match made in heaven, or at least in Addis Ababa! Since this meeting the two have performed together several times in the US building upon recorded Ethiopian explorations in E/O’s hit albums, afro-cubism and More Beautiful Than Death, “an album so jaw-droppin', eyes buggin' and head-shakingly good that it takes your breath away...” Snap Pop.

Don’t miss your chance to see this beautiful collaboration. "Mulatu Astatke's distinct brand of Ethiopian music features some of the most soulful hip-grinding instrumentals ever recorded in Mother Africa."-John Ballon, Musthear Reviews "One of the most innovative large ensembles in jazz for almost 20 years...[the Either/Orchestra] is still pushing the envelope." New York Newsday http://either-orchestra.org

Before and after sets, Downtown Manhattan's Ethiopian-born, female DJ/Producer Timaj Sukker, spins Nomadic beats, in which eclectic global rhythms are interwoven into a singular holistic adventure. www.nomadicbeat.com

March 18, 19
Washington DC, with Mulatu Astatke, venue TBA

more info here http://either-orchestra.org/newsEthio20PR.html

Those people only like what they hear on Top 40 radio.

so yeah. . . just decided to hit up another vendor (this time importcds) and got one of everything they had in stock. this is volumes: 6, 7, 8, 13, and 28.

wheeeeee!!

importcds' 20% off when you spend $60+ deal has roped me in many, many times

dude. . . volume 28.

omg how great is this

i haven't heard that one!

I wish there were LPs, boxes, mini-boxes, and also mega-boxes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-IxAhumDw

I'm on Nagatti si jedha right now, love it of course :D

having just bought some synths, i'm curious which ones they're using

x-post -- yeah Ali Birra is great. Oromo legend.

nothing new to add. finally just got volume 13 and it's absolutely killer.

THIS POLYRHYTHM IS MELTING MY BRAIN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T75B9W9ek

holy hell, how do any of the musicians manage to keep their respective grooves?????

god yes its so wild, 13 is one of my favorites... i put it on a few weeks ago while i was installing some flooring and had to take it off because trying to concentrate on anything else while listening to those grooves kept making me flustered and confused

Oh yeah 13 Ethiopian groove has Walias Band doing “Muziqawi Silt” I think. That’s a classic that a number of musicians and groups cover

I especially love the polyrhythmic switches from straighter single claps to swung/off-time double claps towards the ends of many songs on the Tigrigna/Eritrean one, Vol. 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsS11_hm3Ro

Ali Birra , Mahmoud Ahmed ( Ethiopiques #7 ) and non Ethiopiques Aster Aweke all first came out on Ali “Tango” Kaifa ‘s Kaifa records . Sadly , Ali Kaifa has just passed , I see on Facebook. His role has been analogized to Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic, and Berry Gordy at Motown. Here’s a 2016 article on him:

https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/ali-kaifa-man-who-built-ethiopia%E2%80%99s-motown

Label owner Ali Tango Kaifa didn’t get enough acclaim outside Ethiopia . RIP

RIP Gash Ayele Mamo, Ethiopian mandolin player and songwriter who played a big role in classic Ethiopiques music

This was one of my favorites of 2020: To Know Without Knowing, by Mulatu Astatke w Melbourne-based Black Jesus Experience, incl. trad Ethiopian and Aboriginal songs, among other elements

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2196770380_16.jpg

whole thing is here:
https://mulatuastatkeblackjesusexperience.bandcamp.com/album/to-know-without-knowing

And The Rough Guide to Ethiopian Jazz was my gateway:

01 Mulatu Astatke: Gamo 05:12
02 Akalé Wubé: Alègntayé 04:17
03 The Budos Band: Origin Of Man 04:52
04 Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Friends: Ambassel 07:36
05 Tesfa Maryam Kidane: Heywete 05:13
06 Tlahoun Gessesse: Aykedashem Lebe 04:56
07 Samuel Yirga: Firma Ena Wereket 06:55
08 Gabriella Ghermandi: Be Kibir 08:16
09 Emahoy Tsegue-Maryal Guebrou: The Homeless Wanderer 07:05

Total Playing Time: 54:42
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1826/7323/products/RGNET1350_2000x.jpg?v=1536217426

xp yes that Mulatu/BJE record is excellent

Another great Ethiopian producer / label owner gone: RIP Amha Eshete, whose Amha Records was notable. He also helped Walias band members after he fled to the US

https://www.musicinafrica.net/fr/node/15368

Earlier bio of Amha Eshete covering his years as a pioneering Ethiopian producer and label owner, plus touching on his later years after he fled to Washington DC and started the Blue Nile and the Ibex restaurant/ clubs.

Another article on Amha Eshete ‘s Ethiopian years.

https://pan-african-music.com/en/amha-eshete-the-dreamer/

Both of these articles were penned earlier, and are not obits .

Funeral is Tuesday in Ethiopia. Fans of classic Ethiopian golden era music having to deal with deaths of Kaifa, Mamo, and Eshete now over a very short span.

man. so grateful to know about this music and all of those amazing people.

Hailu Mergia & The Walias Band Tezeta is being re-released on June 4, the band’s first full-length album that was originally released in 1975.

Below is from press release and liner notes

Virtually unheard(-of) outside Ethiopia—and extremely rare locally—the cassette-only release came out on the band’s own label housed in their record shop in the mid-70s. This is a historic record of one of the most interesting and pioneering bands of the “golden age” of Ethiopian popular music. The music is absolutely bonkers despite the sound quality.

FYI—Walias were the house band at the Hilton, Addis’ legendary high-end hotel, where they played nightly. They recorded the album in the nightclub itself and pressed the tape in Athens. The music beautifully encapsulates the way bands were re-vamping traditional music into soulful new renditions, and the Walias were THE instrumental-focused band of the era, breaking ground on so many levels (see notes below).

The record includes archival photos, interview content with former hotel staff and an essay by a long-time knowledgable fan and ATFA friend Tessema Tedele. Audio is carefully extracted and remastered from one of the only known original copies of the tape by the engineer we have worked with on every release, Jessica Thompson.

Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself. Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV. Their music was so ubiquitous in media that most of us who enjoyed it never bothered to go out and look for it. Gradually, they started to slip out of public consciousness by the early 90s when newer works by bands such as Roha and Axumite were favored. Only then did those of us feeling a certain sense of loss started inquiring about "that music from TV" at record stores. Yet, most of their work remains stubbornly elusive.

This "Tezeta" album is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible. The stirringly distinct opening riff from "Zengadyw" took me right back to a certain time in my youth. Deliciously vivid, it's a time capsule in and of itself. "Gumegum" is a definite favorite. The vocal version, most popularly sang by the legendary Hirut Bekele, tells of unrequited love - an over-exploited theme in music of the time. "Tezeta" is the traditional anthem of nostalgia that doing a version of it was, for a long time, a rite of passage for any aspiring musician. "Endegena" (To Love Again), is a sleepy ballad by Mahmoud Ahmed getting a zesty uplift here. "Ou-Ou-Ta" is one of the signature songs of the greatest of them all, Tilahun Gessesse.

https://www.clashmusic.com/news/alemayehu-eshete-has-died

RIP the “Ethiopian Elvis” “Alemayehu Eshete. Some of his 1969 to 1974 songs are on Ethiopiques #9

RIP.

I thought this revive was going to be about this interview with Mulatu Astatke:

https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEIKDOVgIRYPtT6j56Elz7usqGAgEKg8IACoHCAow-4fWBzD4z0gw_fCpBg?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

rest well, alemayehu☮

just catching up with to know without knowing and it's predictably great.

Yep

see also:

https://www.discogs.com/Sosena-Gebre-Eyesus-Sosena-Gebre-Eyesus/release/12947296

― sleeve, maandag 7 september 2020 1:16 (one year ago)

RIP contemporary era Ethiopian singer Madingo Afework at too young an age. Not from classic era Ethiopiques, but thought folks who go to this thread might appreciate him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-oyFQYoUTc

I keep seeing this Walmart commercial that has Tsegue Maryam-Guebrou playing in the background (she of the almost intolerably beautiful solo piano Ethiopiques #21, Emahoy). I know it is absurdly anachronistic to be shook by music being used in a commercial in 2022, but it's messing with me

I wouldn't be shocked to hear it in a commercial per se but Walmart in particular is natural to get shook over I think.

Ethiopian Gala and cultural dinner w/ singers Maritu Legesse, Fasil Demoze, Abeba Desalgen November 27 in Silver Spring, Md

I wonder if these vocalists hearken back to old school Ethiopiques? Haven’t researched yet

https://ethiopianstoday.com/2022/11/06/legendary-ethiopian-artist-ali-birra-passed-away/

RIP Ali Birra

Happy Birthday Amahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebrou

https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/emahoy-tsegue-maryam-guebrou-12th-december-2022

RIP

Just learned about the passing of Ethiopian artist Emahoy Tsegué Maryam Guèbrou, one of the most vital composers of the 20th century. It was always a joy to hear her beautiful music, whether on the speakers at home, performed by Maya Dunietz, or in Ethiopian cafes in London. RIP. pic.twitter.com/vTjgiQ1URV

— Fielding Hope (@fieldinghope) March 27, 2023

99 years old! Her stuff still sounds so amazing every time I play it. New archival collection coming out soon: https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/jerusalem

Ah shit. What an absolute genius. RIP.

It was really something discovering her music, floating in from a lost world from not so long ago, yet knowing that she was still out there alive in her cloister.

She was phenomenal.

the ethiopiques compilation is incredible

https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/jerusalem

The title track here is incredible.

title track is great because it has her wonderful sense of time, the other songs also have some of that but are more traditional classic solo piano

vocal compilation forthcoming https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/souvenirs

If you like some Ethiopiques comps, you might also like seeing the band Qwanqwa live. They are on a US tour now. Baltimore tonight , DC area Sunday and some gigs in between and many after

https://www.qwanqwa.net/tour

Zanzibara done by the same label had some very interesting material too. Not sure if it got anything like the same recognition.

https://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.event&eventid=237AB0FE-E847-96A3-1693AEF5C01D8802&k=&CFID=5969167&CFTOKEN=dd0393536c05719f-2753451F-056F-92FC-CFD691C664FA1389

Girma Beyene , pianist / arranger is going to be back in dc area Thursday night July 18. Composer of Muziqawi Silt that Walias Band and others have covered. Also represented on Ethiopiques 30

Sweet old guy who was good when I saw him awhile back

Went to the Girma Beyengig. He had a band and he and they started late around 10 after 2 opening acts & a movie and then had to finish by the rented theatre's 11 pm weeknight closing time. He talked a bunch, mostly in Amharic, and sounded suave when singing. Not as great as when I saw him 6 years ago, but he wasn't even young back then either. Still good. They showed the Girma movie doc again. Falceto the Ethiopiques compiler found Beyene. Beyene and several members of the Walias Band decided to stay in DC circa 81 when a military dictatorship took over Ethiopia. Beyene's wife got ill from cancer I think and died in a DC hospital and he was heartbroken. He stopped doing music and worked 6 days a week at a gas station to pay the bills for he and his 2 kids. Now this century he's finally back.

Beyene hasn't attracted the crossover crowd that Mulatu Astatke has. When I saw Astatke a little while back at Howard Theatre, the audience was 50 % Ethiopians and 50 % non-Ethiopians. At the Bethesda Theatre Beyene gig the audience was 99 % Ethiopian.

Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, is Wednesday September 11. Many Ethiopian New Year’s Eve events at Ethiopian establishments tonight Tuesday

80-something Mahmoud Ahmed is planning to retire from singing. He is being honored and singing near his Springfield, Va home near DC on Friday and sometime soon back in Ethiopia. He was great when I last saw him sing in 2020 at Ethiopia embassy in DC . Saw him at a show by another performer earlier this year and he was walking with a cane .

https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/42671/