Ethiopiques S/D

I'm just listening to #14 which I hadn't heard before. Very good record. Still wishing I knew exactly which #s were essential. Think this was anyway, so might need to get a physical copy.

Had a chance to buy a number of them cheaply a few years back. Possibly around the time Zavvi was a physical shop in London. Not sure which I already have. Think it's 3, 8, 9, 13, whichever harp of King David is, the one that was recorded specially for the series which i think is either a teen or an early 20s.

Think I inevitably need more and also need to pick up the Kenya Special set which came out a couple of months back.

i've heard tche belew by mergia + it's fab. i'm def gonna check out the new one.

this week the first worldwide release of Ethiopian jazz and funk band Hailu Mergia and the Walias' "Tche Belew” comes out on Awesome Tapes From Africa LP/CD/Digital/Cassette.

Recorded in 1977, the album went on to become one of the most celebrated of all Ethiopian pop recordings from the golden age of Addis Ababa’s live band scene, not to mention a "holy grail” LP that collectors trade for ~$4000 on eBay.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/music/feedel-band-reviving-a-robust-sound/2015/03/26/dcda5618-cda8-11e4-8c54-ffb5ba6f2f69_story.html

Ethiopians living in DC and playing "classic" Ethiopian sounds live

http://www.africanhiphop.com/vinyl-records-ethiopia-cultural-artifacts-festished-commodities/

excerpt:

As we were going in and out of stores in Merkato, the largest open-market in East Africa located in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, talking to various shop owners who were identified as record suppliers, we realized the process was rather shadowy. We were talking to most of them as if we were chasing to buy illegal goods or blood diamonds. None of them had the vinyl records close at hand. They were hidden away, in their homes or some obscure place. Arrangements had to be made to meet and buy at later time. It seemed like an ambiguous adventure.

After exploring for sometime, we found reliable contacts. This one vinyl record retailer was telling us that he only had 70 records left after a clean up from a regular foreign collector. On top of that, the price of a vinyl record in Birr [Ethiopian currency] has rocketed. The suppliers were sitting on a goldmine with foreign buyers who will pay any price for African vinyl records. “They want them, there is a high demand for East African music. That’s all they keep asking for and they’ll pay any price,” the supplier said, with a nonchalant attitude, arms crossed across his chest.

As it turns out others count at a high price cultural material we discount.

We were stunned, even more when we realized that the highly inflated market price didn’t respond to haggling. To a point of reckoning that vinyls, in this town, presumably have become a fetished commodity. The wondering wouldn’t stop: could it be that prices are based on real value, or on the assumption of dealing with rarefied artifacts, or is the market merely dictated on high demand against low supply? Nonetheless, regardless of what the market says, it can’t be ignored that “predilection for vinyls is criticized as an antiquated, expensive, elitist practice of compulsive hoarding, which in turn fuels dubious and artificially inflated markets dealing in rarefied artifacts of technology and media”.

limited edition 7 inch on Max Whitefield’s Philophon imprint now available -- Ethio-jazz legend Hailu Mergia’s first recordings in decades

been really into the king david harp volume recently

Tesfa Mariam Kidane ( sax player on many of the Ethiopiques albums originally recorded between 65 and 72) will be sitting in with the Feedel Band in DC Sunday night July 5th at Colombia Station.

Pianist, arranger, singer Girma Beyene who was on Ethiopiques 8, will be in DC and NYC and maybe elsewhere in October. From 1981 till some time in the 90s, he had left music and was living in DC. Some time in the 2000s he moved back to Addis, I think. Since around 2008 I think he has been playing again, including a bunch of gigs in Paris (some excerpts are on Youtube).

I saw another old-school Ethiopian perform this weekend-- guitarist Selamino Woldemarian w/ a keyboardist doing Ethiopian and jazz standards.

For those who don't read the yearly Rolling Global World thread:

So this past Friday I saw Ethiopian piano legend Girma Beyene with DC based Ethiopian group Feedel Band. Despite an arrogant soundman who wouldn't make Girma's gorgeous, melancholy voice and piano louder in the mix, the show was very nice. Ethiopian singing star Mahmoud Ahmed was in the crowd, and Girma's producer, Francis Falceto, the curator of the Ethiopiques series was also there.

A short US tour for Girma, who had lived in DC from 1981 to 2010. NYC show coming up. He's been just hanging out in DC.

I met Falceto briefly at the show and after-show

Nice. I recently filled in some gaps in the series I had, though it's still only the first fourteen total now all told.

Falceto also used to curate a festival in Ethiopia with H in Addis (his ilx posting name)

pianist/singer, composer of "Muziqawi Salt" Girma Beyene is doing one last gig in DC with Feedel Band tonight; and one over the weekend in Richmond, VA before he heads back to Ethiopia (and occasional trips to France to play with a band there, and hang with his producer, Francis Falceto, the curator of the Ethiopiques series )

Several selections from various volumes ofEthiopiques incl. on one of my favorite albums this year, Rough Guide To Ethiopian Jazz
info, incl. gist of the music as one participant hears and plays it, audio excerpts, etc. http://www.worldmusic.net/store/item/RGNET1350/

Here comes another historic addition to the Ethiopiques CD series with the upcoming release of its 30th volume next month featuring legendary Ethiopian singer and songwriter Girma Bèyènè.

"After 25 years of silence, the legend Girma Bèyènè is back alongside one of the greatest ethio groups, Akalé Wubé," the announcement said. "Under the direction of Francis Falceto (director of the famous Ethiopiques series Buda Musique) Girma and Akalé Wubé came together and recorded this album in order to immortalize this renaissance."

A digital release of Girma's new album, which is entitled Mistakes on Purpose, is scheduled for January 13th, 2017 by the French world music record label, Buda Musique, while a vinyl release is set for February 3rd, 2017.

I saw on Facebook that Ethiopian drummer Temare Haregu, who played with Hailu Mergia and was a founder of the Walias Band and can be heard on an Ethiopiques compilation or 2, has passed away.

― curmudgeon, Friday, December 30, 2016 4:38 PM (sixteen minutes ago

Just saw pianist Girma Beyene again,with the Feedel Band. They have another gig or 2 in NYC coming up. Then Girma heads to Paris for his album release party (with a French band) before heading back to Ethiopia.

http://legacy.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/artsandentertainment/2017/best-ethiopian-guitarist-legend-guests-in-a-small-space

Selam from Éthiopiques 7: Erè Mèla Mèla is playing every Friday night, just outside Washington DC.

jelly

Girma Yifrashewa has some very Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou -like passages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb4F817xLTA

Thanks. Yifrashewa and his influences seem to have very old-school Ethiopian piano roots I know little about

http://www.emahoymusicfoundation.org/about

Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebrou

In early 1960s Emahoy lived in Gondar studying the religious music of St Yared, composer and father of Mahlet, the early Ethiopian religious music

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/arts/music/girma-yifrashewa-pianist-composer-at-issue-project-room.html

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23241-mulatu-of-ethiopia/

Originally released in 1972 and newly-reissued, the groundbreaking Mulatu of Ethiopia

Not an Ethiopiques release as such, but it seems like a good place to discuss it

Bits of it are on volume 4 aren't they or is that all from elsewhere?

There was a review in Uncut this month too.

Mulatu Astatke recording in Acton Massachusetts in 2010 while on a fellowship at Harvard doesn't punch many digger checkboxes, but I love this track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF2XlLuZ8xc

Bits of it are on volume 4 aren't they or is that all from elsewhere?

Good question, but I don't know

Planning on seeing this tonight--

http://www.addisinsight.com/2017/05/grammy-nominated-ethiopian-american-singer-wayna-pays-tribute-icon-bezunesh-bekele-us-channel-9-news-concert-washington-dc-friday-june-9th/

After completing a 2-month US Tour singing with American soul and Motown icon, STEVIE WONDER, Wayna traveled to Ethiopia to perform weekly at the Marriott Apartments in Addis Ababa, beginning on New Year’s Eve 2016. It was while there for 2 months that she studied the music and style of Ethiopian soul superstar, Bezunesh Bekele, known as “the Aretha Franklin of Ethiopia.”

Disappointing night. Wayna only did 2 or 3 old songs (in part maybe because guitarist Selam W couldn't make it; the guitarist she had instead played schlocky Las Vegas arena rock stylings)

i'm kinda surprised no one's mentioned #9, featuring Alèmayèhu Eshèté. i guess #22 is also dedicated to him but i can't compare the two since i haven't heard it yet. but #9 is fucking sick from beginning to end. his band is really good and funky as hell. i can see why he got james brown comparisons - listen to "Gizew Honeshenna" - the tight, repetitive horn lines sound like that prime period when the JBs could do no wrong, and the drums just barely swing. it's so good. "Mekeyershin Salawq" sounds like an earlier period (the comp cover 1969-74), judging by the sound quality as well as the simpler composition, but it crackles with intensity.

I loved #9. I actually am filling out some holes in my Ethiopiques collection and finally picked up #10: Tezeta. So fucking good, love that kind of dark and lovelorn vibe. Oh and Vol. 14 by G. Mekurya is amazing too.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/music/hailu-mergia-lala-belu.html

Hailu Mergia, keyboardist, accordionist, taxi cab driver is getting love from NY Times, Bandcamp and elsewhere for his new album

he rules

Tche Belew is nonstop solid jammage

New compilation out put together by this guy-- Ernesto Chahoud‘s ‘TAITU Soul-fuelled Stompers from 1970s Ethiopia‘,

I found my first Ethiopian record in Beirut at the flea market. It was ‘Zemam Sew Lebene’ by Getatchew Kassa on the yellow-labelled Kaifa, which I later traded with my friend and DJ Partner Jan Weissenfeldt aka J.J. Whitefield, with whom I share what you can call the Ethio fever. The first Ethiopian record that triggered this fever though was ‘Ewnetgna Feker’ by the legendary Ethiopian singer Hirut Bekele. The first time I heard this record I wanted more and decided to go and dig in Ethiopia

https://www.bbemusic.com/feature/digging-ethiopian-45s/

Got to give it a full listen

he played in los angeles at a small cafe that sold out

Some of those Zanzibara volumes are quite good too seem to come from the same label. Certainly look pretty similar.
I think it's volumes 3& 5 that struck me most.

Off to hike the Semien Mountains in September with a few days in Addis Ababa before and after. Anyone got any recommendations for the best places to catch live trad music?

Send a message to H in Addis, maybe his ilxor email address works (see posts from him upthread)

Have a look at Visiting Ethiopia, Minister. And definitely get in touch with H in Addis if you can. We caught some live trad music in, I think, Gondar. It was quite an experience - live 'rapping' or at least improvised vocals with quite bawdy lyrics (so I was told). Fantastic, jolly, welcoming atmosphere.

Sat. July 28 in Washington DC

* Love Wins--A celebration in honor of new Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s historic visit to #WashingtonDC with Ephrem Tamiru, Madingo Afwerk, Sami Berhane, Berehanu Tezera & More backed by Ras Band at Echostage (Ethiopian acts)

The Prime Minister is just meeting with the local Ethiopian community I think (not the us Prez)

From Strut, out now:

http://r.k7musicnews.com/7ws5lsp9g7e.gif

We continue our work with the “Godfather Of Ethio Jazz”, Mulatu Astatke, with the first official reissues of his early classics ‘Afro Latin Soul’ Volumes 1 and 2 from 1966, recorded as The Ethiopian Quintet.

The albums were the first experiments in Astatke’s pioneering sound, fusing Ethiopian cultural music with Afro Latin and jazz forms. “I have always felt a deep connection between Latin and African music,” he explains. “I travelled to Cuba and listened to their musicians; the tempo, rhythm and feeling was very similar to different African forms.”

Astatke would start to perfect his Ethio jazz sound on his later album for Worthy in 1972, ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ (STRUT129) but the two volumes of ‘Afro Latin Soul’ stand as important recordings documenting his early career.

‘Afro Latin Soul’ Volumes 1 and 2 come in their full original artwork and are painstakingly remastered by The Carvery. All formats feature personal liner notes by Mulatu Astatke.
More info, audio:
https://strut.k7store.com/release/104151-mulatu-astatke-his-ethiopian-quintet-afro-latin-soul-volume-1-2

wonderful, wonderful albums, of course. i have the bare-bones reissue of vol. 1, and it's never let me down. it has one of the best album covers in music (looks like a bridget riley) and makes for the perfect dinner-time music. i've heard vol. 2 but might have to pick it up on wax!

Last time I saw Hailu Mergia he had 2 jazz guys from somewhere backing him up and he was good. Last night in DC he had an Ethiopian bassist from DC and a Nigerian (I think) drummer from DC, both who play in DC African and reggae bands. Hailu played more keyboards than he did accordion and melodica. Very good show. What a unique sound. Btw, Hailu stopped being a Dulles Airport cabdriver late last year.

Still kicking myself for missing the chance to see him in NYC recently

You’re in luck. He’s gonna be back in Brooklyn July 27

Actually, the drummer I saw was Ethiopian as well. He and the bassist both play in DC’s Feedel Band.

Anyone ever see 2017 doc “Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul”? It’s showing in DC Tuesday night and might also be available online, but I haven’t checked yet

Still haven’t seen above doc, but I just saw “My Beautiful Girma,” about pianist Girma Beyene. A French-made effort that is kinda a work in progress ( missing some subtitles and names of folks talking). Despite flaws it’s often touching and captures Bèyènè’s impressive skills. Beyene as an arranger and composer was involved with more tracks than Astatke. But then when he came to US band with Walias band on tour, he fled the military rule back home and stayed here. His sick wife and his daughter later joined him here. When his wife ( whom he had written tons of songs about) died , he was distraught. He gave up music and just worked at a gas station in DC for 30 years, paying bills to take care of his daughter and himself, but never playing music in dc Ethiopian restaurants. But finally a few years ago he returned to music. Film has him crooning some songs like one of his heroes Sinatra.

Beyene is playing outside DC in Md March 20 and doing a few dates elsewhere I think.