I have the great pleasure of working with music from Ethiopiques a collection featuring Ethiopian and Eritrean singers and musicians, produced by Francis Falceto. I had the pleasure of meeting Fransis while in Addis.
I have put together short bios of the musicians I have selected from the Ethiopiques collection. If you are curious about the sounds I encourage you to look for them on iTunes!
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou is a nun currently living in Jerusalem. She grew up as the daughter of a prominent Ethiopian intellectual, but spent much of her young life in exile, first for schooling, and then again during Mussolini's occupation of Ethiopia's capitol city, Addis Ababa, in 1936. Her musical career was often tragically thwarted by class and gender politics, and when the Emperor himself actually went so far as to personally veto an opportunity for Guèbrou to study abroad in England, she sank into a deep depression before fleeing to a monastery in 1948. Today, she spends up to seven hours a day playing the piano in seclusion and even gave a concert to some lucky ducks in Washington D.C. a few years ago.
Mulatu Astatke (born 1943; surname sometimes spelled Astatqé on French-language releases) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger best known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and latin-music interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Astatke led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums—instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments,keyboards and organ. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music.
Tilahun Gessesse (also spelled Telahun Gesesse or Tlahoun Gèssèssè) (September 29, 1940-April 19, 2009) was an Ethiopian singer regarded as one of the most popular of his country's "Golden Age" in the 1960s. During the 1960s he became famous throughout the country, nicknamed "The Voice". He raised money for aid during the famines of the 1970s and 1980s and earned the affection of the nation, being awarded a doctorate by the University of Addis Ababa and also winning a lifetime achievement award from the Ethiopian Fine Art and Mass Media Prize Trust.
