August 26, 2007
Ethiopian grooves
We've spent the past four weeks travelling around the UK and Greece visiting family. Most of the travelling has been done on the UK's motorway network - normally a fairly tedious, traffic-clogged experience.
But this time it wasn't so bad. Why? Because we had this to distract us - Ethiopiques - the Very Best of Ethiopiques: Hypnotic Grooves from the Legendary Series. It is the best bits of the much-admired but daunting 21-CD Ethiopiques series, which, according to Wikipedia, features:
Ethiopian and Eritrean singers and musicians. Many of the Ethiopiques CDs compile various singles and albums that Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in Ethiopia. Prominent singers and musicians from this era appearing on Ethiopiques releases include Alemayehu Eshete, Asnaketch Worku, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke, and Tilahun Gessesse.
And it is excellent. My favourite so far is the first track - Heywete by Tesfa-Maryam Kidane. I always meant to get into the series, but there were just too many of them.
Where are all the Ethiopiques musicians now? Isn't it time someone organised a Buena Vista Social Club-style reunion?
Posted by aheavens at August 26, 2007 12:12 PM