Mary Armeday's love-folk songs and her unique krar playing style have become a classic in the history of ethiopian music and she will forever be remembered for her talent and her love for entertaining.
Basically an audio travel scrapbook, Sleeping in the Market takes listeners on a tour of the Ethiopian region of Amhara.
Our guides are Mehari Smon and his son Yayehe. The former is making a pilgrimage back to his roots; the latter is pointing a microphone at local musicians, whether they are professionals performing in an Adiss-Abbaba teahouse or children singing and dancing in the streets of poor neighborhoods.
The Smons are quiet guides, letting the people and places speak for themselves. Their document presents music caught in the social act, music embedded in everyday life.
A young girl greets us first on the street, singing to support her family. Her "Laluyeah" is quite moving. She belongs to a small group of children coming back regularly throughout this short album -- their songs offer a counterpoint to their elders' music, of which "Endaw Mela Mela" is the most significant. Captured in a teahouse and 13 minutes in duration, it features a male/female duo of singers. The man also plays the accordion in a style very typical of that part of Africa, while the vocals hint at Muslim cultures, especially the art of qawwali (both in the vocal inflections and the call-and-response system).
The album is slightly short at 39 minutes, but it offers a pleasant listening curve.
1. Laluyeah (Yearning Song) (3:38)
2. Bale-Whashinto (3:20)
3. Berewoo Taha Taha (The Bull, Taha, Taha) (8:03)
4. Demam Era Dema (1:36)
5. Aderch Arada (Sleeping In The Market) (1:47)
6. Bale Ageru (2:29)
7. Ney, Ney, Ney (Come, Come, Come) (5:08)
8. Endiaw Mela Mela (Compassion) (13:03)
The production/compilation approach is somewhat similar to Sublime Frequencies' line of field recordings (Streets of Lhasa, for instance). ~ François Couture
Born and raised in Addis Abab, Ethiopia Chachi Tadesse has used her roots to grow an international music career. At the age of sixteen Chachi joined a well known Ethiopian cover-band, touring extensively while building her musical skills and fan base. In 1982 Chachi moved to the USA, taking classes in Music, acting and modeling and touring extensively with reggae artists.
Chachi is most known for her musical career as one of the first Ethiopian artists to blend the sounds of reggae with Amharic. After releasing her first album, in Washington D.C., she traveled extensively and got involved in acting, modeling, voice lessons, and fashion design. Chachi returned to Ethiopia in 1992 with her first album selling over 90,000 copies worldwide, but her focus was honed in on the plight of street children rather than on her musical success.
'one of the most rousing, reliable new African bands of the year'
The Guardian
'there’s something about the soulful bluesy sound that has a wide appeal ... captivating' 4****stars,
The Evening Standard
'rousing, driving songs... a no-nonsense set that provides a reminder of the great African music to be found in the UK' 3*** stars
The Guardian
'the fireworks are spectacular' 3***stars
The Financial Times
'primed to deliver a raw, yet updated blast of Ethiopian Blues' 3***stars
Songlines
THE KRAR COLLECTIVE (aka Geata Krar Collective) are Temesegen Tareken (aka Temesgen Zeleke), a former pupil of veteran Ethiopian vibraphone player Mulatu Astatke, on Krar, Robel Tesfaye on traditional
Ethiopian Kebero drums, and singer-dancer Genet Asefa. They are sometimes joined by other musicians, singers and full dance show with 4 dancers.
Krar Collective brings mind-blowing Ethiopian grooves, dazzling Krar and kebero drums, and stunning vocals rooted in tradition and soaked with contemporary attitude. Dubbed “the White Stripes of Ethiopia’ for its minimalist rocky sound, the unstoppable trio— Temesegen Zeleke on the krar (a five- or six-stringed harp), singer Genet Asefa, and drummer Grum Begashaw—bases its repertoire on traditional Ethiopian songs but creates a unique style with timeless appeal: All Music Guide says it’s “unlike any other music from Africa in recent years. … at once accessible, beautiful, and energetic.”
With vocals full of collective cadences and long solo poems, musical stops and starts that create an organic syncopation, and a krar that alternates from lead to rhythm instrument, Krar Collective is rhythmically spellbinding, and uniquely powerful.
Ethiopia Super Krar
Ethiopia Super Krar is Krar Collective’s dazzling debut release. The unstoppable trio, dubbed ‘the White Stripes of Ethiopia’ for their minimalist rocky sound, are favourites on the London and increasingly on the international live circuit. They are renowned for dynamic performances of their contagious music and equally infectious dance moves. Ethiopia Super Krar was recorded to tape on an original 1960s 24-track reel to reel machine, an approach which helped to capture Krar Collective’s music as close as possible to the live experience– the sound is real and honest, not a manufactured perfection.
The instrumental line-up features the krar and bass krar lyre, kebero drums, a one stringed masenqo fiddle, and a washint flute accompanying the band’s distinctive vocals. Band leader Temesgen Zeleke and Genet Assefa share lead singer role. Genet is magnetic in performance and recording – her soaring ululations and perfectly delivered melodies fill the spacious sound. Temesgen Zeleke is a revolutionary krar player – standing to strum and pick his electrified instrument, often kneeling to the floor during his killer solos in intense Hendrix fashion, all on just six open strings. As a young student Temesgen was mentored and encouraged by legendary Ethio-jazzman Mulatu Astatke, and an instrumental arrangement by Astatke features on Ethiopia Super Krar. The famous Ethiopian actress Asnakech Worku, who pioneered the krar as an accompaniment to her emotional ballads during the 1960s and 70s, is also paid a tribute via a cover of her spine-tingling song ‘Endye Eyerusalem’.
Other songs in the repertoire are traditional and represent different Ethiopian tribes. The names of the tracks (‘Ambassel’, Guragigna’, ‘Konso’, ‘Oromigna’, ‘Wello’, ‘Welaita’) are related to the names of ethnic groups or geographical regions. ‘Tizita’ is a ballad form in Ethiopian music associated with remembering loved ones and the ‘King of Tizita’ Mahmoud Ahmed, and ‘Ete-mete’ is a children’s song.
Krar Collective present their sound and their philosophy – rural music in urban clothes, and a belief Ethiopian traditions need to be respected, enjoyed and preserved. Influenced by their London home - in 2012 they represent Ethiopia in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad - their Ethiopian roots and their own abounding creative streak, they are setting the scene alight with 2012 shows in India, Canada, Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland even before their first album release– Ethiopia Super Krar looks set to spread their fire even wider and even wilder!
Part 2 of interview with director Olivia Wyatt about the making of her film, Staring Into the Sun.
A contemporary survey of the tribal music of Ethiopia. Recorded in 2009 by Olivia Wyatt, this double LP showcases an array of mind-blowing sounds from the "land of eternal sunshine."
Presented in this visually stunning gatefold are audio examples ranging from remote tribes -- of the Ethiopian highlands, the lower Omo and the Great Rift Valley -- to their electric analogues in the sweaty beerhalls of Addis Ababa.
This collection features songs from the Azmari, poet-musicians who play the krar (ancient lyre) and whose song repertoire includes everything from comic improvisation to lyrical elegiac, the Borana whose work songs are a transcendental polyphonic singing that stops time, and the Dirashe whose syncopated panpipes are as otherworldly as anything ever heard.
Other selections include music from the Mursi, Druze, Gedeo, Konso, and Tsemay tribes as well as some fine examples of amplified roots music from the capital from the Habesha 2000 Band. This is a limited edition one-time pressing double LP housed in a gatefold full color tip-on sleeve with gorgeous Polaroid shots from Olivia Wyatt.
In 2009, filmmaker/photographer Olivia Wyatt traveled to Ethiopia to document a music and dance event called the Festival of 1000 Stars. Things didn't quite go according to plan. On her arrival in the country, Wyatt discovered the Ethiopian government had canceled the event. So Wyatt instead headed out to visit 13 tribes, whose performances Staring Into the Sun documents in a DVD, a CD, notes, and photographs. It's an extraordinarily careful, comprehensive package, featuring stories about close calls with authorities, comments on the distinctive qualities of each tribe, and details about the various instruments used in the recordings.
The hour-long DVD is the best way most of us will have to witness the music of the people Wyatt visited.
With visuals as hypnotic as the performances, she deftly illustrates how music seeps into many different parts of life. The opening scene is one of the most spectacular, showing members of the Borana tribe in southern Ethiopia chanting a cyclical polyphonic song as they pass up buckets of water from a multi-level well; Wyatt's shots skillfully match the repetitive nature of this backbreaking work. Scenes of spiritual possession and ceremonial whipping further demonstrate music's role in ritual practices.
The sheer breadth of styles in the film also extends to more commercial fare-- often featuring keyboards and synthesized drums-- shot directly from TV sets. One clip even features a band decked out in military garb and posing with guns. That stands in stark contrast to the the scenes of the Tsemay tribe, where kids and adults bounce around in a circle to an uplifting song. The big highlight here is the discordant synchronized panpipe playing of the Dirashe tribe in the Great Rift Valley; the music feels like it could career out of control at any moment, but it never does.
The accompanying CD is less essential than the film, though it just about works as a standalone item. Listing no artists or tracks, the disc is simply a collection of recordings Wyatt made. Some of them feature the trilling female vocals that are a staple of the region; others are built around an open-ended structure of loosely handclapped rhythms. The masterfully off-kilter panpipe players of the Dirashe tribe resurface in a nearly eight-minute excerpt of a piece that presumably stretched on far longer. The disc's common thread comes through its ceaselessly looping vocal chants, which are mesmerizingly easy to get lost in-- just as the performers themselves may have done to reach such a trance-inducing state. Staring Into the Sun shows how that kind of loosening is simply one of many purposes music can have for a group of people.
The latest from Sublime Frequencies is a massive cd/dvd/book set, compiled by photographer / filmmaker Olivia Wyatt on a recent trip to Ethiopia, planned to coincide with a music festival - which the government abruptly cancelled for fear of the musicians being exploited. So instead, Wyatt travelled into the bush, to compile this sonic/visual travelogue of the music and musicians, the people and places of the various tribes of Ethiopia, and it's of course breathtaking. The music, heady and hypnotic, joyous and emotional, the sounds varying dramatically from tribe to tribe, but music being ubiquitous, weddings, ceremonies, rituals, drawing water from the well, on television, in living rooms, very rhythmic, mostly vocal drive, but with lots of hand clapping, wildly bowed stringed instruments, vocals chanted, shouted, call and response, super mesmerizing, many of the tribes utilize whistles and panpipes, and the music they make is incredible, otherworldly and impossibly lush, sounding like some modern 20th century classical composition in many cases, while actual bands to rock out, and get surprisingly soulful and funky. A compilation like this must have been so impossible to compile, how on earth to whittle down what must have ben days of recordings to just an hour, but the tracks chosen are amazing, and make us want to hear so much more.
Both the cd and the dvd (more on the dvd in a second) are housed in a cd sized hard cover book, which includes extensive liner notes on Wyatt's trip to Ethiopia, but also 117 Polaroid photos Wyatt took on her trip, of people, places, musicians, villages, an incredible visual feast for the eyes. And then there's the dvd, which features a 60 minute film, which in its won way is structured like the video version of Wyatt's Polaroids, with many still shots, video portraits, as well as some incredible footage, some highlights include so many different lots of singing and dancing, sometimes in traditional tribal dress, often in western t-shirts and shorts, one of the most amazing sequences if of men and women working drawing water from a well, passing buckets from person to person, their worksongs so hypnotic and beautiful, then there's a super wild psychedelic guitar freakout with one woman doing some of the craziest, most ecstatic hair swirling / headbanging we've ever seen, there's footage of men feeding wild hyenas in the middle of the night, often right out of their own mouths, snippets from Ethiopian television with wild MTV style videos, fantastic tribal folks songs with synchronized dances and lots of whistles, dancing girls making music with just the clank and jangle of her jewelry, in fact lots of dances that involve the jangle of jewelry, men smoking in dark rooms watching television, intimate performances in living rooms and so much more.
So incredible, sonically, visually, culturally, easily one of our favorite Sublime Frequencies releases for sure.
A1Borana Tribe* – Borana Singing Wells3:32
A2Konso Tribe* – Konso Lyre Song4:02
A3Tsemay Tribe* – Tsemay Song0:53
A4Habesha 2000 Band – Habesha Traditional Song 12:20
