Few have a more dramatic tale to tell than Maryam Mursal, Somalia’s powerful and dynamic female vocalist.
Before her stunning voice could be heard in the west, Maryam was forced to spend seven months walking across the Horn of Africa with her five children as she fled the civil war in her native Somalia - desperate to escape from the anarchy, death and starvation that was destroying her country. She and her young family hitched rides on trucks, rode on donkeys and walked - out of Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, across Kenya, through Ethiopia, recrossing part of Somalia again and eventually arriving in Djibouti where she was finally given asylum by the Danish embassy.
In Denmark she met up with the Danish arranger Søren Kjær Jensen. Jensen had come across Maryam's music when working in Somalia as a freelance photographer in 1986 and had recorded her extraordinary voice from a radio broadcast. Visiting a Somalian immigrant camp in Denmark he heard her singing to 300 fellow refugees and realised it was the same voice. Jensen brought Maryam to the attention of Peter Gabriel's Real World and, consequently, the label asked her to make two albums - one of traditional material and a second in more contemporary vein.
‘The Journey, Maryam’s solo album, is a highly charged modern take on her Somalian roots, produced by Simon Emmerson and Martin Russell (both of Afro Celts Sound System fame) with Jensen. It features guitars, sequencers and back-up vocals from Peter Gabriel, yet never strays far from its African origins. "She's amazing, she's got everything," Emmerson says. As an instant African classic thrillingly uniting ancient and modern he puts the album on a par with Baaba Maal's incendiary ‘Firin In Fouta’, which he also produced.
Maryam is perfectly at ease working with a more contemporary approach. She began singing professionally as a teenager in Mogadishu in 1966, the first woman in a deeply male-dominated Islamic society. Brought up in the Muslim faith, she was steeped in the traditional music of her country - a remarkable hybrid sound of African and Arabic influences created by centuries of cross-cultural fertilisation between migrating nomadic tribes. But from her earliest years she also eagerly absorbed every influence she could find.
“I began singing in night clubs thirty years ago in Somalia,” Maryam says. “Traditional music is very important to me but I was always listening to people like Ray Charles, the Beatles, everything.” Another western artist she admires is Etta James and it is easy to see a link between the two women - both have a big, uncompromising vocal style.
Although little to do with jazz as we know it in the west, the rich, cultural stew which she developed of African and western sounds, dance music and traditional song, became known as ‘Somali jazz’ and Maryam became a household name.
In July 1997 Real World released ‘New Dawn’ (RW66), Maryam’s recording with the core survivors of the band Waaberi - once a 300-strong troupe of singers, dancers, musicians and actors from the Somalian National Theatre before the destruction of civil war. An acoustic album, the songs tell of loneliness, love and betrayal - sung solo or accompanied by simple percussion and the oud (an Arabic lute-like instrument). It includes a freshly recorded version of Maryam’s song ‘Ulimada’ (The Professors) - a thinly disguised attack on the dictatorial regime in Somalia, which had led to her being banned from performing anywhere in the country for two years.
Maryam Mursal's life and art have intertwined to produce a sound that is profoundly moving and totally unique. She may be a refugee living in exile but her extraordinary talent is certain to guarantee her a heartfelt welcome wherever she sings.
One day Maryam hopes to return home to Somalia. "The first good thing I hear about my country, the first suggestion it is changing, I will go back - and quickly. It might take five years or even ten years but one day things will change. Everybody needs their country. At home you can be a star but then as a refugee you are looked at like a dog. I am a refugee but I am also a singer. That is my job and that is how I survive."
Reviews
...dynamic vocal performance from Maryam Mursal. The sound of contemporary Somalia with a dynamic vocal performance from Maryam Mursal. Whopping chunky brass and thunderous bass and percussion bring in a highly charged set of songs perfectly captured by the Real World engineers. Piccadilly Records (UK) Relying on her unbroken spirit and sandy resolve... ...Mursal tells her story with terrific grace and ebullience even as she mourns her country's difficulties. She’s been through too much to do a polite, sad documentary. Rolling Stone (1998) (USA) The very first listen to Mursal will tell you this: she is an authentic, incredible talent... ...a singer of great range and passion and an adept juggler of cultural sounds and styles ... The journey actually sounds like an international achievement ... to create a wonderful music that is both distinctive and unusual, and yet totally inviting. Option Magazine (1998) (USA) Somali singer Maryam Mursal is blessed with haunting vocals... ...that pierce your soul, and a keen storytelling ability... Mursal is poised for international stardom. Black Elegance (1998) (USA) To put it simply: 'The Journey ' is an album that definitively puts Maryam Mursal up amongst the stars... ...a fantastic, beautiful result of international format. A captivating and exciting mix of afro-arabic and western music. Djembe(1998) (Denmark) Her debut album is a sophisticated voyage undertaken with strings and percussion. Mursal . . . has a fearless, smooth voice and a pop sensibility that brings ‘The Journey’ back home. Marie Claire (1998) (USA) can't recall when an Afro-pop record bowled me over... ...the way Maryam Mursal's has ... as good as world music gets. Request (1998) (USA) Funkier than a room full of snowboarders. You experiment with this rhythmic colossus at your peril - inhale it and you could win the giant slalom, break the world speed record and fly a balloon around the world. Undoubtedly the funkiest LP ever to come courtesy of the Danish Music Council. Time Out (1998) (UK) A voice that pleads for home ... Far and away the funkiest album ever connected to Denmark . . . sympathetic but indomitable, a woman who knows what she wants . . . her voice is as rich and assertive as those of Margareth Menezes of Brazil and Angelique Kidjo of Benin. ‘The Journey’ rides Somalian melodies into a cross-cultural wonderland. Mursal and her arranger, Soren Kjaer Jensen, realized that her voice could stand up to just about anything. Mursal sounds too tough to let herself be reduced to an exotic sonic ingredient. When she tours this summer as part of Africa Fete, her forthright voice will not be denied. New York Times (1998) (USA) Deep, dirty funk from Somalia, anyone? ...the kind of classic funk that would have suited Sweet Sweetback's Baadass Song. Mojo (1998) (UK) If you're looking for an artist who stands for something big... ... - who moves you, impresses you, and broadens you while thrilling you - here she is, cutting through it all. Interview (1998) (USA) "... compelling listening ... her voice packs a powerful and emotional punch. Music Week (1998) (UK) Truly breathtaking... If this album does not propel her ... to consideration as one of the world's great female voices, up there with your Aretha's, there ain't no justice: Folk Roots (1998) (UK) Mursal's honey-smoked alto weaves a hypnotic web... ...of back-home ululations and R&B diva moanings. The Journey and Mursal swing beautifully. Twenty-first century global soul begins here. March 1998 . Vibe (USA) This ... is a joyful collage of influences. This music feels like hobbling on stillettos when you're used to flats: it'll force you to use muscles you didn't know you had. Jane Magazine (1998) (USA)
Samuel Tesfamichaelis a gospel song writer and singer (mezmur), based in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. His Facebook page describes his interest as "Guitar, Worshiping & Meditating on the Word of God! Singing, Traveling, spending time with his beautiful Wife!".
01. Samuel Tesfamichael - Bemegemerya Lamesgen (9:00)
02. Samuel Tesfamichael - Chheten Sema (5:24)
03. Samuel Tesfamichael - Ketefat Godana (4:36)
04. Samuel Tesfamichael - Endante Yale Yelem (5:50)
