Ethiopiques S/D

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.

it's streaming here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ethiopiques and looks pretty cool. gonna watch this tomorrow as it rains all day, thanks!

Here’s the trailer for the Girma Beyene one
https://vimeo.com/214875072

Here’s the trailer for the Girma Beyene one
https://vimeo.com/214875072

Just heard that Girma Beyene is cancelling US tour because of virus concerns.

Check out those movie docs that include him if you can. Quite a story

2017 doc “Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul” leaves a few details out, but it's still a fascinating tale of Ahma Eshete opening a record store and then a record label and releasing songs by Girma Beyene and Mahmoud Ahmed, Then decades later frenchman Francis Falceto hearing a Mahmoud Ahmed record and then seeking him out in Ethiopia. Later after the Derg regime is gone, Falceto returns to Ethiopia finds more records and with Eshete , they find the master tapes and the Ethiopiques series starts.

I know there's also Zanzibara because I have a couple of volumes, did the label put out any other region specific series?
Or is it a larger label anyway?

they did a really good series for Angola too. I only have the two vols. of Angola 70s, but it's some of my favorite music

Buda Musique is the label

https://likembe.blogspot.com/2007/08/angola-80s-plus.html

Buda Musique is the label

https://likembe.blogspot.com/2007/08/angola-80s-plus.html

since we’re jumping around the continent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfp1XMljLlw

Wallahi Le Zein!! - Wezin, Jakwar And Guitar Boogie From The Islamic Republic Of Mauritania

My article on Hailu Mergia who was in Walias Band and guitarist Selam Seyoum Woldemariam who was in Roha Band and backed Mahmoud Ahmed. Both live in the Washington DC area now

https://dcist.com/story/20/04/30/two-local-ethiopian-jazz-greats-have-new-albums/

https://hailumergia.bandcamp.com/album/yene-mircha

whoa you can get the 3 hailu reissues there on CD for $25 total, that rules

Yes!

search

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6VLsipKTJc&
Ayalew Mesfin ‎– Lene Anchi Bicha Nesh

Nice.

This may have been have been posted already, but it's beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZnmJE1XIoE

This is so great.

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

Both of those last two tracks you posted are wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N09oe9eK6c

How did I never see this BBC Under African Skies one hour doc about Ethiopia before? Filmed in 1984, it starts with Aster Aweke in DC and then jumps back to Ethiopia and covers traditional music, religious music, and secular . Walias Band, Roha Band, Alemayehu Ashete and more

xp to that brownie post of the Ali Mohammed Birra song - I listened to that a few times in July after it was posted in June, dug it well enough (as I do most Ethiopiques recommendations), and then sometime a month ago in the early morning hours as I was coming out of a dream and got stuck in that annoying half-dream/half-wake phase where you become aware of the weird quickly-repeating themes/scenes at the end of your dream (or whatever it's like for other people), I kept replaying the horn opening to that "Si Inbanbinsin Warri" song without remembering who it was. There's usually always at least one song from the previous day left rattling around in my subconscious every night, and that was it, but a mystery. I spent a while the next night going through everything new I'd listened to recently, and when I finally eureka'd THAT song, it was such a big ol victory that I did my dishes with the whole album cranked, super into it, a triumph for the spirit of ILM.

along those lines I want to put here the first track from what Stevolende put on the What Are You Listening to? 2020 thread, a newly reissued Sharhabil Ahmed (the Sudanese Freddie King maybe) album that I do believe rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElqHJs4O0W4

I couldn't find a recording date for the music on the Sharhabil Ahmed cd , liner notes refer to a 1963 e.p. with a couple of tracks whose titles may be different spellings of tracks on the cd. But it did really strike me that that cd does sound like an earlier point in the development of music I'm hearing in the Ethiopiques series. I could do with hearing more of the traditional music from the areas they're right next to each other and both will have interacted with the Arab world though their location on the coast of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Anyway love both.

The French company that put out the Ethiopiques series also put out Zanzibara which I have 3 discs from which are pretty good. Not sure how well known that 2nd series is.

https://youtu.be/OQVsVL7DNMo

Listening to Eritrean traditional singer & krar player Amleset Abay . She moved to DC at some point & had a restaurant where she and other musicians performed in early 1980s ( that I sadly didn’t know of at the time)

there was some traditional ethiopian music that they played on that bbc4 programme, on an instrument called a begena, and it sounded unearthly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZBqBnuRlBQ

see also:

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

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/08/12/admass-sons-of-ethiopia-how-a-great-lost-album-is-finding-new-fans/

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/admas-sons-of-ethiopia-interview

In 1984 some Ethiopians living in the DC area borrowed some $ and recorded an album as Admas and pressed a 1000 copies. Decades later they were selling for a lot on Ebay. A Danish collector living in NYC tracked them down after he bought a copy on Ebay, and he reissued the album. 3 of the band members are back in Ethiopia. 1 tours as Teddy Afro's keyboardist, one is a producer, the other is a music educator.

The album is mostly instrumental and starts with a loungey golden era Ethiopia type track, and has one track with a reggae feel, another with a Brazilian jazz samba portion, and funkier one and one has vocals

I have the Ethiop[iques volume with the Harp of Kind David , not listened to it in years. I heard that begena and assumed it was going to be the same instrument and googling it links it back to an ancient instrument linked to Israel the kinnor which was what David played to KIng Saul.

Dig the buzz.

dang, the reissued LP is already sold out! i like it too, thanks for the tip!

http://www.funkfidelity.de/

This website is a good source for golden era Ethiopian music and the various labels it was issued on (pre-Ethiopiques)

Seeing on Facebook, twitter, & IG that bassist Melake Gebre from the Walias Band has died from cancer at age 71. Am pretty sure he played bass on a great rendition of “Musicawi Silt” by Walias Band arranged by Girma Beyene & including Hailu Mergia on keyboards

respect, melake.☮

unrelated—

i realized recently that the last physical music i purchased was the latest fleet foxes album and that has yet to actually be shipped to me, so i went over to amoeba.com and bought every volume of this that they had currently in stock after years of only knowing volume 4. the ones that happened to be in stock at amoeba were volumes 1, 3, and 17. currently halfway through the tlahoun gèssèssè set and just considering buying up the rest of the series and listening to nothing except this music for the rest of my life.

you could def do worse w/r/t "rest of life" listening

if they do a box set of the complete series, i'm there.

and they should, btw. if someone can do those ridiculous sets for pink floyd demos and outtakes, a complete ethiopiques set seems like a cinch.

This series is like sushi to me. Not my favorite food in the world but I could happily eat it everyday.

for me its one of those things where i wont think about it for a long time, but then when i get in the mood it's all I want to listen to for days. and there always seem to be volumes that I haven't gotten around to (or at least didnt absorb the last time i binged). one of these days i really need to go on discogs and just cop them all so i can line them up on my shelf all nice