Blogtrotters

Monday, May 27, 2013

Mulatu Astatke & The Ethiopian Quintet - Le allucinazioni LSD Disco psichedelico [1966]


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       Tripped out Italian library LP about the effects of LSD, very rare, strangely has a really good crazy Latin tune mixed with electronic sounds, pretty unique record from an Italian TV show talking about LSD and drugs. 



      The bugaloo jazzy and funky Latin musical background is by Mulatu and the Ethiopian quintet, with psychedelic effects due to drugs.



Girma Yifrashewa & Michael Belayneh - Meleya Keleme [2003]



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       Musicians Girma Yifrashewa and Michael Belayneh released a CD entitled “Meleya Keleme” co-financed through the common support fund for Franco-German cultural projects in third world countries on the occasion of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Franco-German “Friendship Treaty”. The lyrics of the new music are written by the well-known Ethiopian playwright, actor and poet Getnet Eneyew.

        The CD was officially presented at an Ethiopian music concert at the Hilton Hotel. Girma and Michael recorded three of the eight tracks, with French violinist Patrice Legrand, director and German cellist Markus Lentz who will be in Addis to perform at the concert.



       This Ethio-Franco-German musical realization was made possible through the collaboration of the Alliance Ethio-Française and the Goethe Institute in Addis Ababa under the sponsorship of their two embassies.

       The CD was also released in France and Germany, and will then be made available in other countries through the international distribution network of BNL Productions based in France.  



      On January 1963, President Charles de Gaulle and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed a treaty of friendship which set the seal on the reconciliation between Germans and French in an historical disputed Europe. The treaty was named “Elysée Treaty” after the place where it was signed in France.

      Girma, Michael, Patrice and Markus will soon be on tour in France and Germany.



Friday, May 24, 2013

various artists - Folk Music and Ceremonies of Ethiopia [FW04354] [1974]


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       In the summer of 1972, Lin Lerner and Chet A. Wollner traveled throughout southwestern Ethiopia, recording the songs, chants, and dances of the various people they met. Folk Music and Ceremonies of Ethiopia documents their journey, exploring the music of Ethiopian ritual with analyses of performance practice, summaries of the stories told through song lyrics, and historical backgrounds which imbue each work with tremendous cultural significance for both individual performers and entire communities. The liner notes also include original transcriptions of song melodies with photos of performers and descriptions of pertinent choreography.





various artists - The Festival of 1000 Stars [2005]


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                                                  The Festival of 1000 Stars. 

Tribal groups from Southern Ethiopia come together to perform and celebrate their traditional songs and dances.






       A soundscape of the third festival of music and dance held at Arba Minch, Ethiopia, December 2005. 26 of over 50 distinct communities from Southern Ethiopia came together to celebrate and share their traditional music and dance. Global Music Exchange was asked by the Christensen Fund to help organise and record this third festival. About 9 hours of music was recorded by Martin Cradick, and Colin Powerstepper has edited an hour's worth of it in this CD that conveys the spirit of this fascinating part of the world.

"A decade ago, Martin & Su Cradick set off for the Cameroon rain forest and brought back exquisite recordings of the music of the Baka people (The Heart of the Forest/Hannibal Records). In 2005, they took their remarkable skills in energizing and documenting traditional African cultures to the Rift Valley of Southern Ethiopia. The result is a stunning collection of tribal music, assembled for its excitement and its beauty rather than its documentary value to scholars. The work they do resembles no other; they are fast becoming one of the developing world's great cultural assets."






v.a. - Ethiopian Urban and Tribal Music, vol. 1: Mindanoo Mistiru [1999]


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      An utterly fascinating compilation drawn from 1971 field recordings made in various parts of Ethiopia. While a version of the album was originally issued on Lyrichord, this version amounts to a complete restoration and overhaul of the project, with digital equipment used throughout the editing and mastering chain. The material on the album is only a tiny sample of Ethopia's musical treasure -- certainly, because of literacy issues that have resulted in oral transmission of songs from generation to generation, there is a distinct possibility that the roots of much modern Ethiopian music go back thousands of years, a form of living history. The album also provides a strong hint of a different kind of musical sensibility, one that does not deny the formalized Western system but works with and around it; this kind of exposure to alternate musical systems is a valuable educational tool. Whatever way you wish to look at it, this album (and the continuing series) should have a place in any really good music library, if only as a reference point. ~ Steven McDonald, Rovi 


      Haile Selassie was still Emperor of Ethiopia when these recordings were made during the summer of 1971. They serve as a small sample of both time and place from a region noted for its unique and complex natural setting. Ethiopia absorbed cultural influences from inner Africa (north to the Sahara and south to Kenya) and also from the Red Sea and Arabia. Perhaps most unique for a country from the Horn of Africa, its king in the mid-4th century converted to a Coptic version of Christianity that believed in the monophysite nature of the Christian deity. The rise of Islam isolated Ethiopian Christians, creating an entirely unique body of liturgical music. Latter 19th-century expansion brought in up to a hundred languages and ethnic groups. The consequence is a nation with a music of extraordinary scope and diversity.

      A simple drum dirge, followed by the song "Wub Allem" ("Beautiful World") that for a moment sounds almost Cajun, provides a hint that this music features some distinct regional flavors. These thirteen tracks demonstrate the sounds of Ethiopian folk instruments like the masenko (a one-string fiddle), the craar (a gut-string lyre), several washint (flutes), kabaros (single- or double-headed drums), and the bagana (a large 8- to 10-stringed plucked lyre. Butterfly-like melodies are produced on "Two Afar Flutes" and similarly on "Galla Song" which features the washint. One track illustrates the use of a toum (thumb piano)-a nod to the mbira's wide influence across the continent. An Afar divination chant represents the nominally Muslim Cushites in a session with an oracle seer. The plucked strings of the Nuer harp and craar captured my ear, and by the time I listened carefully to the Nuer and Konso dances that close out this collection I just wanted more. A very wonderful and brief introduction to the urban and tribal music of Ethiopia, with an emphasis on "tribal"; these are not the "urban" pop music tunes of the '70s. - Richard Dorsett



Track Listings

1. Drum Dirge - Jigsaw
2. Wub Allem 'Beautiful World'
3. Galla Song
4. Afar Divination Chant
5. Two Afar Flutes - Bilaitu And Salatu
6. Anuak Toum Thumb Piano - Phillip Agowa
7. Nuer Harp
8. Lome. Dorze Song
9. 'Give Me Money' - Jigsaw
10. Bagana - Deftene Belete
11. Habeebe ('My Love') - Mary Armedee
12. Nuer Dance
13. Konso Dance Of The Hrela Age Grade

Monday, May 20, 2013

Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - live



                   R E U P L O A D  


           Comprised of Addis Ababa's greatest acoustic musicians, the Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group brings forth Ethiopia's popular tunes from the 1950's and 1960's in a new light. 


       Ethiopia’s pop music of this era predominantly featured acoustic instruments such as the mandolin, accordion, clarinet, and double bass, played alongside traditional instruments such as the Kirar, Kebero, Washint and Massinko. 




      Directed and arranged by guitarist Girum Mezmur, the Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group unfolds Ethiopian music from the past in a modern and jazzy way. 


       The band, composed of veteran musicians such as Ayele Mamo (Mandolin), Shaleka Melaku Tegegn (Accordion) as well as contemporary musicians such as Girum Mezmur (Guitar/Arrangement), Henock Temesgen (Double Bass), Natnael Tessema (Drums/Percussions), Dawit Ferew (Clarinet), and Mesale Legesse (Kebero/Percussions), produces unique sounds dear to most Ethiopians and that undoubtedly appeal to a greater world music audience.



1. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Ambassel (5:12)
2. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Anchim Endelela (4:34)
3. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Ante Temeta ene (4:37)
4. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Ambassel [Girma Beyene] (7:47)
5. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Feker kegna endayleyen [Girma Beyene] (4:18)
6. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Yefiker Megeb (6:04)
7. Addis Acoustic Renaissance Group - Fiker Ayaregim (4:23)