This anthology showcases the music of the Azmari bards, or minstrels, from the Amhara Region in Northeastern Ethiopia. Most Amharas, aka as Abyssinians, are Christians, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church founded in the 4th century.
Melaku Gelaw - Misgana (Praise)
The gorgeous program featured here includes Melaku Gelaw playing solo washint wooden flute (A1, A4) and solo krar lyre (A2); and singing and playing krar (B1); Wolde Marriam singing and playing krar (A3); the powerful and inspired interplay between Asegedech Mekonnen’s spellbinding singing and Getamesay Abebe’s masinko, or masenqo, single-stringed bowed lute (A5, A6, B2, B3); and Getamesay Abebe singing and playing masinko (B4).
Jano Band transcend the Rock genre by infusing traditional Ethiopian melodies and percussions, adding instruments of masinko, krar, and the washint, and bringing you to your feet with unforgettable languages of love and celebration.
Jano Band became the first Ethiopian band to feature on Coke Studio Africa when they collaborated with South African singer Shekhinah in Nairobi, Kenya, last year.
The band – which consists of two female vocalists, two male lead vocalists and six musicians on bass, guitars, keyboards and drums – was brought together by Addis Gessesse in 2011.
Since the release of "Ertale" in 2012 (also posted HERE), the group has collaborated and worked with American producer Bill Laswell who helped the group sparkle on the international arena.
Jano Band - Darigne
In September 2017, news broke that the band was on the verge of a breakup. The band disputed the reports through its current manager Sammy Tefera who went on to announce that the band would be launching its second album in early 2018.
Music In Africa caught up with one of the band’s lead vocalists, Dibekulu Tafesse, to talk about their 16-track album, Lerasih New, which was released on 1 February 2018.
MUSIC IN AFRICA: What was the inspiration behind Lerasih New?
DIBEKULU TAFESSE: We named the album Lerasih New because it is a commonly used word which translates to 'For Yourself'. Our songs carry different themes that our fans relate to and in this album we choose to urge our fans to be conscious of their actions. As human beings we ocassionally do things without thinking about the consequences. So in this album we are pushing for self-awareness because no one should intentionally hurt themselves or ruin their lives simply because they made the wrong choice.
MUSIC IN AFRICA: Was the album produced in Ethiopia?
DIBEKULU TAFESSE: The assembling of the music, which is normally the first stage of recording, was done in Ethiopia but the engineering process was done in Italy at the Blumusica studio in Turin, and the final mastering was done at Lurssen Mastering Studio in Los Angeles, Califonia.
Working with good recording studios and producers has set us apart from other Ethiopian artists since the music that we produce is of high quality. On this project we worked with producer Kistet.
(brief interview is taken from siteMusic in Africa and it's posted HERE)
Orchestra Ethiopia was an Ethiopian performing group formed in 1963 by the Egyptian-born American composer and ethnomusicologist Halim El-Dabh (born 1921). The group, which was founded in Addis Ababa, comprised up to 30 traditional instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers from many different Ethiopian regions and ethnic groups (including Amhara, Tigray-Tigrinia, Oromo, Welayta, and Gimira). It was the first ensemble of its type, as these diverse instruments and ethnic groups previously had never played together. For a time, due to El-Dabh's efforts, the Orchestra was in residence at the Creative Arts Centre of Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University).
Orchestra Ethiopia – The Blue Nile Group [full album]
Its main instruments included krar (medium lyre), masenqo (one-string fiddle), begena (large lyre), washint (end-blown flute with finger holes), embilta (end-blown flute without finger holes), malakat (straight trumpet), kabaro (drum), and other percussion instruments. On occasion, it also used the tom, an mbira-like instrument.
Many of Orchestra Ethiopia's performances were theatrical in nature, such as the drama The Potter, which was arranged by El-Dabh.
Following El-Dabh's departure from Ethiopia in 1964, subsequent directors included John G. Coe, an American Peace Corps volunteer (1964-1966); and Tesfaye Lemma (1966-1975), both of whom composed and arranged for the group. During Lemma's tenure as director, in 1968, another American Peace Corps volunteer, the Harvard-educated Charles Sutton, Jr., was assigned by the Peace Corps to assist the Orchestra as Administrator, a position in which he continued until 1970. Sutton had arrived in Ethiopia in 1966 and, immediately attracted to Ethiopia's traditional music, actually mastered the masenqo, studying with Orchestra member Getamesay Abebe. He began performing with the Orchestra in March 1967 (playing masenqo and singing in Amharic), at Lemma's invitation. The group performed frequently in hotels and at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, and appeared on national radio (including Radio Voice of the Gospel) and television. The group also had an audience with Emperor Haile Selassie I.
In the spring of 1969, due to the efforts of Sutton and the Peace Corps, Orchestra Ethiopia toured the Midwest and East Coast of the United States, under the name "The Blue Nile Group". The group performed in twenty cities, including Manhattans Town Hall and The Ed Sullivan Show (in early March).
The group released two LP recordings, both entitled Orchestra Ethiopia. The first, subtitled "The Blue Nile Group", was released on Tempo Records c. 1969; and the second was released on Blue Nile Records, in 1973 or 1974. The Orchestra was also featured in a National Geographic documentary film entitled Ethiopia: The Hidden Empire (1970). By 1975, due to the upheavals caused by the Derg revolution, the group finally disbanded, although many of its musicians continued to perform with other groups, and as soloists. The group's washint player, Melaku Gelaw, lives and continues to perform and record in Washington, D.C.; Tesfaye Lemma, now retired, lives in Washington, D.C. Masenqo player Getamesay Abebe and drummer, vocalist, and star dancer Zerihun Bekkele, both retired, continue to live in Ethiopia. Washint player Yohannes Afework, who had replaced Gelaw, lives in Addis Ababa and is retired from the Mazegajabet (Municipality) Orchestra. Coe, the former Executive Director of the Wyoming Arts Council, is now retired and living in Wyoming; and Sutton performs today as a jazz pianist in Connecticut (and continues to play masenqo for special occasions). Several other of the Orchestra's members have died in Ethiopia.
A selection of the Orchestra's archival recordings transferred from reel to reel audiotape to audio CDs by the Ethiopian-American engineer Andrew Laurence was released in Europe in late 2007, and was released in the United States in February 2008, as the 23rd volume in Buda Musique's Ethiopiques CD series, with the liner notes having been prepared by Sutton and Lemma.
In 2007, a recording entitled Zoro Gettem (Reunion) was released on the Nahom Records label; the CD, recorded in Washington, D.C. in September 2006, features four of the Orchestra's former members (Charles Sutton, Getamesay Abbebe, Melaku Gelaw, and Tesfaye Lemma) performing repertoire they had performed together in the late 1960s.
The washint is an end-blown wooden flute originally used by the Amhara people in Ethiopia. The washint is common in the highlands. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.
Anemut Kinde - Washint
The washint can be constructed using wood, bamboo, or other cane. Varieties exists in different lengths and relative fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the course of a performance to accommodate different song types. It generally has four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a pentatonic scale.
The washint is widely used traditional musical instrument. It is typically played by Ethiopian shepherds while herding cattle. The bamboo flute usually has four to six holes. Ethiopian youth learn to play this instrument at a very early age.
Yohannes Afework, a member of the famous Orchestra Ethiopia of the 1960s, and Animut Kinde are among the most popular players of this instrument.
The washint is an end-blown wooden flute originally used by the Amhara people in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.
The washint can be constructed using wood,
bamboo, or other cane. Varieties exists in different lengths and relative
fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the
course of a performance to accommodate different song types. It generally has
four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a pentatonic scale.
Don't know much aboutYohannes Afework's album"Washint
Melodies"from2001, but music is beautiful and relaxing
...
This recording gives rich samples of the sounds of tradition in urban musical life in Ethiopia today. The ancient ceremonial music played on the embilta flutes or the vocal art of Alemayehu Fanta or Gebre Hiwot Lemma represent older traditions. The group Sne Bahel offers samples of singing and music which accompanies lively traditional dances from the Oromo and Wollaita ethnic groups. Modern pop music is represented in six tracks by the Abyssinia Band.
A really nifty release, Caprice has combined two forms of urban music usually rigidly separated: professionally performed "traditional" music for krar, flute, voice, and Ethio-soul by electric groups that play the real local thing rather than the crossover material we're usually offered. The result is splendid: very varied and splendidly performed music and truth-in-classification.
01. Lemma Gebre Hiwot - Medina / Zelesegna (4:50)
02. Abyssinia band - Yedejih abeba negn [Hanna Shenkute] (6:44)
03. Yohannes Afework - Ambassel (4:29)
04. Abyssinia band - Mis men gidifkini [Girmai Biable] (4:18)
05. Asnakech Worku - Tizita (4:45)
06. Abyssinia band - Endenew yisemah [Hanna Shenkute] (5:30)
07. Areru Shegane, Teka Tema, Yohannes Afework - Tigrigna (3:16)
08. Yared Orchestra - Alegntaye (5:30)
09. Alemayehu Fanta - Salamta (3:00)
10. Abyssinia band - Yiberral libbe [Dawit Mellese] (4:23)
