13 Months of Sunshine; that is the title of this film by Yehdego Abeselom who I have heard about for a about 4 years. I have been unenthusiastic because of my indifference to the title since its close resemblance to the trademark of the Ethiopian Tourism commission.
Regardless, I have seen pieces of [...]
Tag Archive for 'ethiopian-music'
Sometime in the nineties, I vaguely remember my friends saying they are going to an Ethiopian Soccer Tournament at TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Other than that distant memory I had no familiarity with ESFNA or with its vast outreach.
So I was stunned, I think that’s the best [...]
Published by August 1st, 2008 in Bernos and Social.Any discussion in reference to the "Golden Era" of Ethiopian Music has to include the amazing bands and musicians backing the performers. Here I'll attempt to discuss the history of these bands and where possible giving a short bio of the musicians.
PART I
The attempted coup in December of 1960 was the beginning of the [...]
Wub Nat [4:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Qonjiteye [3:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Melewetesh Menew [4:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadA lot is known about our famous singers. Through written biographies or TV and Radio interviews we are aware how they got started and where and when they sang a particular song. What is less known though are the stories behind the songs. The lyricists (yeGitim Derassi), the music writers (yeZema Derassi), the arrangers (aqenbabari) [...]
Published by March 15th, 2006 in Music, Noteworthy and Thoughts.