Blogtrotters

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

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)




Thursday, July 3, 2014

DJ Sirak - Addis Soul vol 1



                          R E U P L O A D   


Original source :  




      One of the most beautiful things about music is its influence on both the past and present.  The music of today owes an incalculable debt to the musical forefathers and foremothers of yesteryear. 
      Most recently, DJ Sirak - representing both NYC and Ethiopia - dropped a mix invoking the music of Ethiopia's Golden Era...reminding us how these musical masterpieces have influenced music of today - with artists such as Common and K'naan sampling what are undisputedly some of the hottest break beats of all time. 
      Sirak describes his lastest mix - Addis Soul Vol. 1 as "Ethiopian Music in it's Funkish, Afrobeatish days with some modern mixes and blends as how it is used today... this is Vol. 1 out of 4 parts.. stayed tuned and we will keep you dancing like your uncle from the 60's and 70's..."



   Africology  by  DJ Sirak   




01. Intro - Dj-Sirak

02.  Mary Jane - Burns
03. Tizita - Seyfu Yohannes
04. CommonBuy - The Game
05. Shellela - Getachew Mukurya
06. I Come Prepared - By K'Naan
07. Eruq Yaleshee - Alèmayéhu Eshèté
08. Dr. No - Ethio-Soul
09. Hagerwa Gonder - Alèmayéhu Eshèté
10. Ené Nègn Bay Manèsh - Girma Bèyènè
11. Astawisalew - Lemma Demissew
12. Mulatu Astatke - Interlude
13. Tchero Adari Negn - Alèmayéhu Eshèté
14. Almokerkum NeberBuy  By Hirut Beqele
15. Fiqer Fiqer New - Alèmayéhu Eshèté
16. Aykedashim Libe - Tilahun Gessesse
17. Hasabe - Ayalew Misfin
18. Lèzèlalèm Nuri - Lemma Demissew
19. Gizie Degu NegerBuy - Mahmoud Ahmed
20. Freestyle At The Africology Studio's - M.Anifest



Friday, June 27, 2014

Emilia Mitiku - Winter [EP] [2012] [swe+ethiopia]





Emilia Mitiku - Winter Beach


       Emilia Rydberg also known as Emilia Mitiku (born 5 January 1978, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish pop music and soul singer, mostly known for her hit, “Big Big World”. Emilia was discovered in 1996 by Lars Anderson, son of ABBA’s manager, Stig Anderson.

         Rydberg’s father is Ethiopian singer Teshome Mitiku, and her mother is Swedish. She used an alias of Emilia in the first years of her career but in 2012 she has started to perform under the name of Emilia Mitiku using her father’s surname. 

      She was exposed to a unique mix of cultures throughout her youth, reared by a Swedish mother and Ethiopian father. The traditional Ethiopian music and jazz that filled the house, thanks to her musical father, introduced Emilia to the joys of singing and performance early on. She decided on a life in music at the age of ten after one of her father's concerts, and was accepted into the Adolf Fredriks Music School in Stockholm shortly thereafter. 





       She studied classical music there for eight years, playing soul and pop music on the side. Emilia was discovered by Lars Anderson (son of ABBA member Stig Anderson) in 1996. Together she and Anderson set to work writing and recording what would become her debut record. Though finding time between work and her studies at university was difficult, the hard work paid off with the release of Emilia's debut single, "Big Big World," in September 1998. 

      The song became the fastest-selling single in Swedish history, attaining gold status after six days on the air, and platinum status five days after that. The song quickly went on to win fans all over Europe, dominating charts from Norway to Turkey. The full-length record Big Big World hit shelves in 1999, ultimately selling over a million copies. Her self-titled follow-up drew a producer and songwriters from the highest levels of the pop music industry. Though Emilia did not rule the pop charts as its predecessor had, the artist enjoyed the high sales and first-rate touring that come only with international stardom. 


      After a long period of silence, Emilia returned to the spotlight in 2007 with her third original release, Sma Ord Av Karlek, on the the independent Bonnier label rather than the behemoth Universal, which was responsible for her two previous records. In 2009, Emilia entered a competition to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest. 





Nazarenes - Songs of life [2005] [ethiopia]





Nazarenes - Song Of Righteous Life





01. Nazarenes - Song of Judgement day (5:11)
02. Nazarenes - Song of love (4:10)
03. Nazarenes - Song of creation (feat. t-root) (4:27)
04. Nazarenes - Song of righteous life (5:08)
05. Nazarenes - Song of liberation (3:49)
06. Nazarenes - Song of Mary Jane (4:56)
07. Nazarenes - Song of war mongers (3:34)
08. Nazarenes - Song of consoling (4:37)
09. Nazarenes - Song of mother Earth (4:37)
10. Nazarenes - Song of unity (5:21)
11. Nazarenes - Song of sharing (4:48)
12. Nazarenes - Song of mission (3:38)
13. Nazarenes - Song of memories (4:52)



Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Almaz Yebio - Down To Earth [2013] [swe+ethiopia]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbwuN-nb4Kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGYNcOxI4es





The beginning

       Music was a part of my life very early on. I began to sing in a choir when I was five years old. My family moved from Sweden to Kitwe, Zambia for a couple of years before continuing to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. There I started playing the piano, an instrument I've always returned to through the years. Haile Selassie was deposed by a military junta so my parents quickly decided to take us children back to Sweden where I began taking classical guitar classes. I continued playing the guitar for more than a decade before realizing that my voice was my main instrument! I was 20 years old and studying at the Academy of music in Malmoe, Sweden when it became clear to me.

       Since my graduation as Master in fine Arts I've been working on a freelance basis as an artist, conductor and as a teacher. The projects through the years have been many and varied; some of which you can find amongst the records at sale.




01 - Almaz Yebio - Merry go round – M.Godée/A. Yebio
02 - Almaz Yebio - Further to fly – P.Simon
03 - Almaz Yebio - Hearts and bones – P.Simon
04 - Almaz Yebio - En dag var hon borta – K.Jonsson/J.Willén
05 - Almaz Yebio - Dancing – M.Ingvarsson/A.Yebio
06 - Almaz Yebio - Down to earth – P.Gabriel,T.Newman/P.Gabriel
07 - Almaz Yebio - Have a good time – P.Simon
08 - Almaz Yebio - The little things – F. Lundin/T-L.Væring
09 - Almaz Yebio - Solsbury hill – P.Gabriel
10 - Almaz Yebio - Washing of the water – P.Gabriel





       The latest recording "Down to earth" is the project closest to my heart at the moment! A sort of Almaz Yebio trio project that expanded towards more musicaians; an urge to give every song it's own sound within the record. I'm the producer of this record together with Mats Ingvarsson and it's also the first release on my own label!

     Member of Stroman/Jönsson vocal project, a Sweden/England collaboration discovering a suite written for five singers and five instrumentalists: Lena Willemark, Linda Pettersson-Bratt, myself, Scott Stroman, Cleveland Watkiss, all singers, and Maggi Olin-piano, Lisbeth Diers-percusion, Mattias Hjorth-bass, Cennet Jönsson-saxophones, Henrik Frisk- saxophones. A highly interesting and lovely piece of music with a lot of space for improvisations.

        Guest soloist on the latest record by Kjeld Lauritsen trio "In the zone". Kjeld is an institution all by himself in the Danish jazz community with his swinging Hammond organ playing!

         Since the release we have done quite some gigs together and it's really a thrill for someone like me who needs an injection of soul/jazz once in a while, that Hammond provides a sound to jump off of, every single time! In the trio you also find: Per Gade-guitar and Sören Frost-drums.


         Anna Weister-Andersson is one of Sweden's most acclaimed gospel singers and choir leaders. She is passionate about black american gospel music, and is putting her work as a composer, teacher and choir conductor into spreading and sharing this music throughout the country. 2011 Anna gathered a choir of ten singers and fie musicians to do the first recording entirely with her compositions, "One in Christ". I was invited to take part in this fantastic project, and we still do concerts when there is a possibility to gather the whole gang. Quite an undescribable feeling to be singing together with people like Samuel Ljungblahd, Malin Övrell, Ingela Olsson, Frank Ådahl, Malcolm Chambers, Martina W Möllås, Per Ankarberg, Kristina Talajic and Anna of course!




Almaz Yebio:  Vocals
Krister Jonsson:  Guitars and backing vocals
Mats Ingvarsson:  Basses, backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Fredrik Lundin:  Saxophones
Björn Jönsson:  Drums
Christian Glass:  Percussion
Dan Svensson:  Backing vocals



Friday, June 20, 2014

Tigist Afework - [2005] - Yemtalgne [ethiopia]










01. Tigist Afework - Genboyen Azye (5:30)
02. Tigist Afework - Kalgebahugne (4:59)
03. Tigist Afework - Zeblder (5:51)
04. Tigist Afework - Ingeda (5:04)
05. Tigist Afework - Anten Badebabay (5:15)
06. Tigist Afework - Yemtalgne (4:50)
07. Tigist Afework - Sew Wedeh Btgegne (6:41)
08. Tigist Afework - Men Yelegnal (5:23)
09. Tigist Afework - Asayew Mengedun (5:20)
10. Tigist Afework - Indatema (5:45)
11. Tigist Afework - Abatatek (5:29)