Swinging Addis: Modern Ethiopian Music

Screen shot from slide show on “Very Best of Ethiopiques” web site

Recently the songs of Mahmoud Ahmed (Ethiopiques Vol. 1) have been on heavy rotation here at casa forota. It is amazing that Ethiopia and Kenya are neighbors, but I know next to nothing about this amazing 3,000 year old culture. In fact, a straight line that runs through Isiolo and Lamu forms a cultural barrier for those, like me, who have a world view shaped by all south and west of that line.

In truth, that isolation is the result of the geography of Ethiopia (fortress-like highlands), but also a chauvinistic attitude towards outsider cultures, African or not. The results of this isolation can be seen in the Ethiopian music of a period that began in the 1960’s and ended in 1974, a time when the country’s capital was called “Swinging Addis”. Like all the youth of this time everywhere, Ethiopian musicians were influenced by rock, jazz and funk, even though their music is not quite recognizable as such. It is completely unique, completely Ethiopian: hypnotic, weird, soulful, passionate, irresistible. Until recently, modern Ethiopian music was for locals only consumption, although that is slowly changing thanks to the brilliant Ethiopiques series. Mulatu Astatque did receive some notoreity recently, when his music featured prominently in the Jim Jarmusch film “Broken Flowers”, and legends like Mahmoud Ahmed have been touring the west playing to more than just Habesha crowds.

Source: Francis Falcet in an excellent 2 part interview about the musical history of Ethiopia:
part one
part two

GO SEE: if you live in the NYC area, there will be a free concert at the Damrosch Park Bandshell near Lincoln Plaza featuring Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete and Gétatchèw Mèkurya, details here.