Belaynesh Wubante & Assegedetch Asfaw: Ereye Demamu/Belayiye / Sabiye Philips PH 213 A Belaynesh Wubante & Assegedetch Asfaw: Ereye Demamu/Belayiye – Amharic Arranged by Mulatu Astatke Philips PH 213 B Belaynesh Wubante & Assegedetch Asfaw: Sabiye – Amharic Written by Belaynesh / Assegedetch Arranged by Mulatu Astatke Year: 1974 Record pressed in Nairobi, Kenya by East African Records Ltd.
Yemane Ghebremichael(commonly known as Yemane Baria), was a well-known Eritrean songwriter, composer and singer. Not confined to musical pursuits, Yemane was also heavily involved in Eritrean politics. He died of natural causes in 1997.
Yemane's songwriting strove to reflect what he perceived to be Eritrean experience during the Eritrean War of Independence. His songs were dotted with stories of love, journey, hope, immigration, and liberation. In 1975 he was jailed for the perceived political interpretation of one of his songs.
A few years after the declaration of the independence of Eritrea, Yemane moved to Asmara and continued to release albums that reflected the new era of hope and national prosperity, with a mix of African and Latin melodies. He also sang about the people involved in the movement towards Eritrean independence, and the sacrifices of that movement.
Yemanewas also known as the 'Eritrean caretaker' due to his reputation as being of a generous, down-to-earth nature, and for sharing his place with newly arrived Eritreans. He is known to having helped many Eritreans adjust to diaspora life in Sudan and move to better places in the Middle East, America, Europe, etc. He was known for his deep sense of artistry and mastery of Tigrinya, the most widely used Eritrean language.
The 2016 debut EP from Jazz/Classical duo, Nasambu + Kibrom, Peace, Love and Mercy, is a carefully sculpted 3-song vision of jazzy elegance, three years in the making. Starting with the release of Selam (Peace), as a single and music video in 2014, the EP was entirely recorded and filmed in Los Angeles, CA. Both artists are solo musicians in their own right, and also members of the internationally acclaimed AfroSoul band, Nasambu and The Mystic Nomads, but that very first time they wrote a song together, it came into being instantaneously and with such ease. A complete song formed in a few short minutes, and thus they became the duo, Nasambu + Kibrom.
A virtuoso composer and pianist, Kibrom Birhane creates the fluid musical soundscape for Nasambu’s lyricism and soaring melodies to emerge as a blend of soulful Classical and Jazz tones, combining Ethiopian and Western scales with poetry sung in English, Swahili and Amharic. Mercy, the second track, has a catchy syncopated groove that lyrically speaks to the large waves of mass migration sweeping across the globe in our time, depicting the universal hope of finding that mythical city in the sun where all the people sing as one, and ‘the glory of the light shines down on everyone’.
Nasambu & Kibrom - Mercy
(Official Jazz Single 2016)
The final single released August 2016 in conjunction with the EP, Take Your Time, is a sweeping, sensual love song, where the singer beckons her beloved to take his time as they carefully develop a love that is strong enough to build lasting legacies and weather any storm.
Nasambu + Kibrom - 01 - Take Your Time (4:46)
Nasambu + Kibrom - 02 - Peace, Love and Mercy (2:59)
