The Black Jesus Experience - Arada/Brand New World [2011] [EP] [australia+ethiopia]

The Black Jesus Experience - Arada

       Black Jesus Experience is an 8-10 piece band playing an irresistibly danceable blend of traditional Ethiopian song and 21st century groove. With backgrounds as diverse as the 5 continents the members of 'BJX' hail from, their music reflects the multicultural vibrancy of the band's hometown, Melbourne, Australia.

         When not touring BJX run a weekly session at cultural hub The Horn where BJX create new songs live on stage. The comfort BJX has with this practice lies in the improvising traditions of that feed BJX including hip hop, jazz, azmari and rutu pa'u.

           The music is also fed quite literally before each performance by the ritual of a group meal prepared by singer Enushu and MD Peter Harper in the Ethiopian tradition, "those who eat from the same plate will not betray each other". This inspires and reinforces bonds musical, social and spiritual, bonds BJX invite their audiences to join.

         Enushu began entertaining her local community as a child in Addis Ababa. Forced to leave Ethiopia, Enushu migrated to Australia bringing hauntingly beautiful compositions inspired by her remarkable life story and the unique vocal traditions of Ethiopia. Enushu is joined on vocals by poetic giant and lyrical miracle The Monk, Zimbabwe born and Outback bred.

      Highlights for BJX include two tours of "the Motherland" Ethiopia, performing sellout shows with Ethiojazz legend Mulatu Astatke in Europe and Australia (an association which won BJX and Mulatu "The Age Best Tour" award) Glastonbury, Big Chill, City Of London Festival, WOMADdelaide, the Big Day Out, Golden Plains and Melbourne International Jazz Festival and supporting Tony Allen among other great festivals.

        The rhymes and chimes of Black Jesus Experience deliver the power and beauty of Africa through the vocal prism of Hip-Hop and freedom of Funk.

   Discography :    

Dark Light (2009)

Yeluinta (2010)

Migration (2014)

    band members are :    

Enushu Taye - vocals
Peter Harper - tenor saxophone, composer
Ian Dixon - trumpet, flugelhorn, composer
Liam Monkhouse - mc/vocal
Chris Frangou - electric bass
Matt Head - drums
Hue Blanes - keyboards
Nashua Lee - electric guitar

                 listen Black Jesus Experience live stream here                

Mahlet G/Giorgis - Wesine [2008] [ethiopia]

   R   E   U   P   L   O   A   D   

       

      Mahlet Gebre Giyorgis was born in Mekelle, the capital city of Tigray, in August 1986. Mahlet, with an inborn vocal virtuosity, commenced the art of music in Mekelle five years ago. In those few years of dexterity, when she was working as a singer at Yared and Selam.

     Music Bands in Mekelle, she devoted herself with perseverance to serious studies of music that dramatically gave rise to the happiest expectation of her present success. A year before, with a view to evaluate the standard of her genius as a vocalist in manipulating the public taste and sensitivity, she released a single melody in Tigrigna, known as Beyneye Terife, that unexpectedly resulted in adding an extraordinary value into the standard of Tigrigna songs and catching hold of a wide range of public reputation and acceptance throughout Ethiopia. Indeed, despite the fact that it was her fresh attempt to breakthrough the arena of our country's music industry , Beyney Terife was a yardstick that won her the 2005-2006 Tigray All Arts Award (TARTA), which was organized by the Mega Creative Arts Center in 2005. 

     Now, Mahlet Gebre Giyorgis is once again appearing into the scene of the Ethiopian 3rd Millennium with a breathtaking mastery of a new melody, called Wessine. This new music album expresses lots of issues that are associated with the day-to-day lives of human society, in its sweetest form in away it captivates all of us. It is a great pleasure and honor to Mega Creative Arts Center while providing you with the original version of Mahilet's new album as a novel souvenir in the new Millennium. Cheers!

01. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Wesine (7:57)

02. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Lesaney (6:21)

03. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Emihilelu (6:22)

04. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Aytbel seeireya (5:32)

05. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Kokeb drar (6:18)

06. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Hdmona (6:33)

07. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Hlubey (5:55)

08. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Zena fetye (6:41)

09. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Kendil (6:48)

10. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Kalaytey (4:59)

11. Mahlet G/Giorgis - Skay zkalyu (5:18)

vacation !

 ... no new posts until september!

Gabriel Teodros - GT's Ethiopium: A Jitter Generation Mixtape [2009] [usa+ethiopia]

Gabriel Teodros - Cycles

       Gabriel Teodros (born 1981), is a hip hop artist and a member of the groups Abyssinian Creole and CopperWire. He is of Ethiopian, Scottish, Irish and Native American descent,and was raised on Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington. Teodros' music often features socially conscious themes, and he was a catalyst in the surge of dynamic underground rap acts from the Pacific Northwest during the first decade of the 2000s.

       Born and raised in Seattle, Washington to an Ethiopian mother and a father of Scottish, Irish and Native American descent. His parents met through anti-war organizing in the 1970s, and they split up around the time Gabriel was born. He stayed with his mother, where he met grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins as they first emigrated to the United States and all stayed in the same house.

His relationship with hip hop culture began at a young age within the South Seattle neighborhood of Beacon Hill. “A lot of kids in my neighborhood were affected by gang culture. And I kind of had a death wish. I felt like, at an early age, that I wasn’t going to live to 21” he said in an interview with Sheeko Magazine. He spent his high school years in Las Vegas, Nevada where as one out of approximately 30 students of color in a predominantly white school, something within him changed. “It was the first time I understood that there was a system in place that wanted kids like me to want to die. And understanding that in high school made me want to live.” he says in the same interview. 

The former breakdancer, graffiti writer and closet-emcee finally began to take his career path seriously at age 16, using hip hop to both understand and explain his world.

       In December 2009, Teodros released GT's Ethiopium: A Jitter Generation Mixtape. This release shined a light on the realities of Ethiopia, touched on America’s own imperfections & stressed the importance of exploring one's own intelligence and spirituality. It was made completely using instrumentals from Oh No's Ethiopium, which was made completely using old-school and rare samples of Ethiopian music.

Discography

   Albums   

Sun To A Recycled Soul - Gabriel Teodros (independent, 2001)

Sexy Beast - Abyssinian Creole (Khingz & Gabriel Teodros) (MADK/Pangea, 2005)

Westlake: Class of 1999 - Gabriel Teodros (independent, September 11, 2006)

Lovework - Gabriel Teodros (MassLine, 2007)

Crow Hill - Air 2 A Bird (Amos Miller & Gabriel Teodros) (independent, 2010)

Colored People's Time Machine - Gabriel Teodros (Fresh Chopped Beats/MADK Productions, 2012)

Earthbound - CopperWire (Meklit Hadero, Burntface & Gabriel Teodros) (Porto Franco Records,  2012)

Children Of The Dragon - Gabriel Teodros & AirMe (independent, 2014)

   EPs   

Sexy Beast - Abyssinian Creole (Khingz & Gabriel Teodros) (MADK/Pangea, 2005)

No Label - Gabriel Teodros (MassLine, 2007)

The Lentil Soup EP - Gabriel Teodros & DJ Ian Head (Everyday Beats, 2011)

   Mixtapes   

GT's Ethiopium: A Jitter Generation Mixtape - Gabriel Teodros (independent, 2009)

Oh No - Dr. No's Ethiopium [2009]

                                   R  E  U  P  L  O  A  D   

       Following in the tradition of Dr. No's Oxperiment, Oh No delves headfirst into an album inspired by and sampled from rare 60's and 70's Ethiopian funk, jazz, folk, soul and psychedelic rock. 

          He calls it Ethiopium. Previous descriptions used to describe Oh No's adventures into "never-sampled-before" territory apply - adventurous, exotic, smart, fun, and thrilling.

       Even if you've never heard an instrument tuned to the qenet scale before, even if you're more into ballads than you are tezeta's, Oh No's transformative effect on his source material will blow you away in its otherworldy funkiness.

36 tracks. 52 minutes of delights .. enjoy ...

Rasselas [canada+ethiopia]

Rasselas

[Rasselas Alemayehu Asfaw, born 1982]

       Born in the land of heritage and culture, Rasselas has been fortunate to grow up familiarized with tradition. He was the only son out of three children. His father traveled very often on business. When he returned home from his business trips, he would always bring along many souvenirs from the country he has visited. 

Rasselas - Abesha Party

      Rasselas was most interested in the records that his father would bring. These records grew into a considerable collection of a variety of music from around the world. As a result, he was familiarized with many genres of music and he enjoyed all of them very much. Among the records he used to listen to as a child were The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and many other Ethiopian and African artists like Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, Ephraim Tamiru, Aster Aweke, Mariam Makeba. Some of his favorite Hip-Hop artists include Tupac, Snoop Dogg, KRS-One, Rakim.

       During his school years, he grew up exposed to different cultures and languages other than his mother tongue Amharic. He had the opportunity to learn English and French. In high school, he was known as the class musician, always entertaining his friends with a new rap verse he has learned. His English teacher was very impressed by his rap and often called him to the front of the class to demonstrate his art.

       In December of 1997, Rasselas moved to Canada with his family. They first landed in Montreal, where he had his first chance to record his independent album, Pure Science. He also joined a local Ethiopian band called the Tis Abay Band. They played in many community events, entertaining with traditional songs from Ethiopia. This gave him the idea of blending hip-hop with traditional Ethiopian music.

     Even though the band separated, Rasselas did not give up on his dream of making music. Since he is the type who is actually fueled by challenge, he worked very hard to make his dream come true. He moved to Toronto, where he became well known performing at the Ethiopian night club, then known as Cottage. At this club, he was able to sell-out his second independent CD, Here I Come, which included the title track, well accepted by his community.

    On his newly released album, Injera Music, he has teamed up with producer Gezahegn Mamo, a well-known producer and keyboardist in his community. Also featuring is many authentic Ethiopian traditional musicians who add a unique flavor to the Hip-Hop style of Rasselas.

1. Rasselas - Abesha Party (4:39)
2. Rasselas - Clap Your Handz (3:32)
3. Rasselas - Doro Wot (4:50)
4. Rasselas - Ride (4:31)
5. Rasselas - Tizita / Memories (4:11)