Henock Mehari was born 1978, into a very musical family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and this influence led to his decision to become involved in music himself at an early age. In his youth, Henock participated in his church choir and later entered the renowned Yared Music School, where he studied music performance, piano, and the masinko, a traditional Ethiopian musical instrument.
He graduated with high distinction in 2000. After graduation, he continued to serve his church as a keyboard player, as well as performing in the choir. Henock pursued a professional career with various musical groups, including Afro Sound, Express, Zions and the Nile Voice bands. With these bands, he performed at most of the nightclubs in Addis Ababa, notably the Sheraton’s Gas Light, Safari, and The Lion’s Club. Henock operates his own digital studio, where he arranged and recorded his album, as well as those of other up and coming performers such as Tsedenia GebreMarkos.
Henock has high admiration and respect for fellow artists Tesfaye Gebre and Aster Aweke and cites their accomplishments as inspiration for his own.
Ethiopian composer/arranger/vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke reached a lot of Western ears in the ‘90s when the fourth installment of the Ethiopiques series featured his work. That album presented innovative recordings from the ‘60s and ‘70s that fused jazz and Ethiopian sounds. Astatke got more exposure when some of his pieces were used in the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers.
In 2009, Astatke and a fine group of American musicians performed at California State University, Los Angeles, and Timeless captures the concert. Featured players include woodwinds wizard Benny Maupin, former McCoy Tyner sideman Azar Lawrence on tenor sax, and trombonist and Tribe veteran Phil Ranelin. A number of younger players also make contributions, including keyboardist Brandon Coleman, violist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and trumpeter Todd Simon, who displays a nice feel for Ethiopian scales.
Astatke’s vibraphone solos are always welcome, and if you had to pick a standout track it would be “Mulatu,” where the band finds a deep groove.
playing the Begenna, the Harp of David from Ethiopia
The begena (or bèguèna, as in French) is an Eritrean and Ethiopian string instrument with ten strings belonging to the family of the lyre. According to oral tradition, Menelik I brought the instrument to the region from Israel, where David played on it to soothe King Saul's nerves and heal him of insomnia. Its actual origin remains in doubt, though local manuscripts depict the instrument at the beginning of the 15th century (Kimberlin 1978: 13).
Known as the instrument of noblemen, monks and the upper class and performed by both men and women, the begena was used primarily as an accompaniment during meditation and prayer. Though commonly played in the home, it is sometimes played in the framework of festive occasions. During Lent, the instrument is often heard on the radio and around churches.
Begena is accompanied by singing voice only. The singer may compose his or her own texts or they may be taken from the Bible, from the Book of Proverbs, or from the Book of Qine, an anthology of proverbs and love poems. Subject matter includes the futility of life, the inevitability of death, saints, mores, morality, prayer, and praises to God. The song's duration varies according to the text, the audience, and the persistence of the player. Though many texts are of a religious nature, the instrument is not used in the Ethiopian Orthodox church services, even if it is seen occasionally in religious processions outside the church.
Because of the instrument's relatively intimate and sacred role in society, the begena is not very common to find. Meditation and prayer are very private, personal endeavors, and hearsay suggests that the instrument is played by very few and is a dying art. However, in 1972, the Yared Music School in Addis Ababa began formal instruction in the begena. Since 2004, evening courses are organized and the begena is still played.
The begena has ten strings. However, different musicians use varying numbers of strings to play the begena. For example, begena teacher Memhr Sisay Demissae uses all ten strings to play the begena, while other players may use five or six of the strings. The left hand is used to pluck the strings.
When all ten strings are plucked, one method of tuning the begena is to tune each pair of strings to one of the pitches in a pentatonic scale. When using five of the stings, only the first, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth strings are tuned and plucked to give sound. Finally, while playing the begena using six strings, the left hand plucks strings one, three, four, six, eight, and ten (starting from the left side when facing the instrument). The pointing finger plucks strings three and four while the other fingers are in charge of controlling one string each. The remaining strings are used for the finger rests or stops after the strings have been plucked, allowing the plucked string to vibrate.
The begena may also be played using a system called girf, wherein a plectrum made of horn or wood is used to pluck the ten strings of the begena. Megabe Sebhat Alemu Aga plays begena both by using his fingertips and girf.
The begena is characterized by a very specific buzzing sound, due to U-shaped leather pieces placed between each string and the bridge. The thong for each string is adjusted up or down along the bridge so that the string, when plucked, repeatedly vibrates against the edge of the bridge.
Discover the man: his name is William Bayakimissa.
Driven by his relatives, he finally launches in a daring project. William presents the first part of Ethiobeats: substantive work, drawing on Ethiopian jazz samples (Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astake and other masters of the genre!).
Marvelous product from shoestring: iPod Touch first generation's hearts (It takes you to invest my guys if you read this). Although the project is still only a demo, it has strong arguments to make. The first track, fresh and rhythmic, introduced the album perfectly. It is composed by a dozen beats full of groove. By exploiting this rich resource of Ethiopian music, and successfully William offers us a varied program very attractive. The tracks keep coming one after the other and are not alike. In short, everything that we love.
Ethiobeats is available at free prices. Do not hesitate to encourage, financially or verbally, the boy to buy some equipment. I think the iPod has been amortized by now.
