Dawit Tesfamariam is eritrean saxophone player. Got his album "Saturday Night" from 2004, and that's all I know about him. If you have any piece of information about this excellent musician, just let me know, and I will post it here.
I like his album very much. Rip is not perfect, but who cares. His music is modern, melodic and relaxing. Enjoy.
Faytinga comes from the Kunama people, one of Eritrea''s many tribes, where women enjoy equal rights with the men. Her father was war hero Faïïd Tinga, and at the age of fourteen she had already joined her country''s armed struggle for independence from neighbouring Ethiopian rule.
Faytinga grew up surrounded by her uncles and aunts singing and playing instruments, in accordance with the Kunama tradition. Her dream was to be a singer, and it came true when she was sent to entertain the troops at the front, using her songs as a message of hope and determination. Faytinga composes her own material as well as performing work from well-known Eritrean poets and composers, playing the krar, a small lyre, in accompaniment to her songs.
An accomplished and elegant dancer as well as talented singer, Faytinga is a leading figure and source of inspiration for the men and women of her country. In 1990 she undertook a tour of the United States and Europe as a member of an Eritrean group, touring for the first time as a solo artist in 1995 when she released her first album on cassette. It took until 1999, and an appearance at the Africolor festival, before she recorded her first CD.
Originaly posted on Awesome Tapes from Africa >here
This 1992 recording (1986 in Ethiopian calendar) is an awesome tape. I've had a YouTube crush on the music of Eritrean legend Yemane G/Michael (aka Yemane Baria, Yemane Barya, etc) for a while and this mostly-acoustic recording is completely bringing me back to a recent trip to Tigray, Ethiopia. The region neighbors Eritrea, and shares a language and musical vibe. I dug this tape up from deep in the stash months ago but didn't really get into it until now. Pentatonic strings and keyboard join the vocal melodies, dancing up and down in a lovely lilt. Amidst the quintessential [ka-dunk] rhythm that is characteristic of a lot of Tigrinya folk music I heard around the Eritrean border, this tape stands out: minimally arranged, urgent, beautiful.
Eritrea's got pop !!! And it comes from Lula Band.
This is one of my favorite afro-pop albums. Like previous post, I don't know much about Lula Band ... I discovered their music by soulseek sharing program few years ago.
If you have more information about this band, send me an e-mail and I will post it here. Thanx in advance !!!
Helen Meles' biography is the story one of the biggest African stars of the early 21st century. She established herself as a talented singer, song writer and bona fide diva during her two decade long musical career. She has become one of the biggest selling Eritrean artists of all time, and has captured the hearts and minds of Eritreans and neighboring African countries alike.
In her early years, Helen Meles joined the EPLF (Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front) at the age of 13. Like many Eritreans, both her parents were also fighters of the Eritrean liberation struggle. Helen was brought up in ‘Biet tmhrti sewra’ (EPLF’s revolutionary school). Her friends describe her as a free-spirited and rebellious individual who was not afraid to show her ‘other’ sides of her personalities. During those revolutionary years, a fighter who showed other inclinations, including his/her artistic sides, could easily be misunderstood.
Helen has two sisters named Aster and Senait, and an older brother named Mikael (better known as "wedi Meles"). Like Helen, her older brother Mikael was also a fighter and a singer, who was one of the first students of biet tmhrti (shool of) sewra of the EPLF. He would end up being heavily wounded in the pitched battles of the 6th Offensive in 1982, he was almost given up for dead and his comrades were ready to bury him when another comrade insisted that they first take him to the frontline’s hospital, where he was saved and through the excellent medical care fully recovered his wounds and returned to frontline duty after four months. Many of Mikael Meles’s comrades recall his exceptional intelligence and amazing heroic feats and describe him in glowing terms not only as a brave warrior, but also as a gifted and sensitive artist who composed many songs and acted in several skits on stage. One of his memorable songs, “abiet SnAt abiet qoraSnet,” whose lyrics have hidden meanings of the heroism and martyrdom of his comrades on the HalHal Front, was later redone by his younger sister Helen Meles in her first CD release. A few days after meeting his sister Helen in 1990, Mikael, who by this time had risen to be the leader of a bren (heavy) machinegun platoon, was wounded in the battle to liberate Massawa, and martyred from enemy’s aerial bombardment while on his way to the hospital.
In 1998 BBC interview, Helen recalled the reaction of many Eritrean women from traditional communities when they first joined the battlefields. Helen Stated: "It was very difficult for them; even wearing trousers was strange and they were shocked when they had to share a blanket or bed with the men". However, By the end of the war in 1991 the lives of Eritrean women had changed so much they were determined not to go back to their traditional old roles.
In 2007, Helen married an Eritrean saxophonist named Issac Asefaw. Their wedding was held in Asmara, Eritrea and many Eritrean musicians such as Bereket Mengisteab and others performed at her highly anticipated wedding. In early 2008, Helen gave birth to her first child, a boy. The following year, she gave birth to her second child, whom also is a boy. It is generally believed Helen is now in her late thirties or exactly 40 years of age.
Helen is a highly passionate artist who reads and is responsive to her own feelings, a trait which is not clearly exhibited in many artists, especially those from the fighter community. One can feel the throbbing of her soulful voice which sends strong vibes all over. Her beauty is mesmerising and it can be described by her proud and majestic posture and her profile can be sketched by her captivating facial expressions while doing her dance routines. Strangely, if one is not familiar with her history, she does not exhibit any indication of the harsh life she led in the battlefields of Eritrea in her looks. Indeed, she was a combatant with a strong touch of music in her. Although somewhat camouflaged, perhaps carefully depicted, she seems to elegantly include her past experiences in her some of her songs. One can’t help but wonder how she really dealt with the bloody past that miraculously generated a strong sense of love amongst the fighters. That interesting but contradictory personal struggle that took place in the battlefields of Eritrea is demonstrated in the voice and bursting and sensuous movements, not necessarily in her lyrics.
Helen's expertise lies in popular music which encompasses a wide range of styles of both local and international origins. She takes Tigrinya music to a different level by mixing traditional and modern music which is influenced by European, Arabic and African music. For instance, (only junior to the Creator) can be described as one of the most interesting songs from the ‘ResAni’ CD because of its new style which Ms Helen introduces in the song – a mixture of South African beat accompanied by a gospel-like sound.
Helen can easily be compared to the diva of the Eritrean music scene of the sixties and seventies, Mrs Tberh Tesfahunegn, who instilled a strong patriotic feeling in many young Eritreans of the time. Both Mrs Tberh and Mrs Helen sing from the heart and their musical styles, although separated by decades of events and technological developments, are interestingly similar. It is vague how deep Mrs Helen’s knowledge of Mrs Tberh is, as there exists a generational divide between them. But they both share a precious experience in the liberation struggle within the EPLF camp.
One can feel that there is a controversy in her style, as opposed to her lyricists’ and composer/producers’ input in her songs. It is bit confusing to tell whether they compliment each other or simply tear each other apart beautifully. Whether they are at odds or compliment each other, the end product is highly interesting. On the other hand, Mr MuKtar Saleh’s smooth composition and Mr Solomon Drar, Mr Solomon Berhane, and Mr Samuel Almede’s lyrics find an excellent niche in Helen’s remarkable talents. This applies to Mrs Tberh’s songs as well, as many would question whether she was representing the feelings of the great musical master, Mr Asres Tessema, or she was equally powerful in her presentation.
R E U P L O A D Tesfa Mariam Kidane / Tesfa-Maryam Kidane / Tesfamariam Kidane / Tèsfa-Maryam Kidané
A well seasoned Eritrean-American artist who has made the WashingtonD.C. area his home for the last three decades is embarking on a mission. Tesfamariam is one of the pioneer Eritrean saxophonists who had left a musical footprint in the sixties and early seventies at the advent of "modern" music in Asmara and Addis Ababa.
Essentially Tesfamariam was amongst the number of Eritrean artists who were key contributors to the development of modern music in Ethiopia. A league of creative greats such as, Saxophonist/bass guitarist Fekaddu Andemeskel, lead guitarist Tekle Adhanom, lead guitarist/vocalist Tewolde Reda, composer Abubakar Ashaker ( Kbur Zebegna Band), Composer/Teacher Colonel Girmay Abdu (Kbur Zebegna Band), and vocalist & percussionist Tekle Tesfazghi. And later, the Roha band that consisted of mostly Eritrean members lead by the creative and entrepreneurial minded guitarist Selam Seyoum.
Finally, after several years of self imposed hiatus, Tesfamariam has put a long awaited CD together that chronicles his life in music aptly entitled My Life in Music.
Tesfamariam's CD stands out in more ways than one. In fact one would be hard-pressed to find another Eritrean "instrumental" album to compare it with. Eritrean musicians produced music in the past daubed "instrumental", by and large nothing considered distinctive or groundbreaking. As far as I can tell none attempted to produce an original composition however mediocre it may have sounded. All were an instrumental version of older songs sang by one vocalist or another.
Yemane Kidane is famous eritrean guitarist.
His passion for music started to emerge at an early age when he was given
a guitar by his brother-in-law, and his talent continued to grow since.
Living in Canada
since 1992, Yemane's reputation as one of the top Eritrean lead guitarists
earned him the honor to perform with such renowned artists such as Yemane
"Baria," Bereket Menghisteab, Tsehaytu beraki and many more.
Yemane has previously
released an instrumental CD with Efrem Tesfayesus titled "Instrumental
Tigrigna Songs" in 1999.
However his latest solo
CD release titled "Instrumental Eritrean Songs," is indeed a
sweet reminder how talented this young musician is.
The CD has 8 professionally-composed
versions of his favorite oldies.
