I’m continually impressed by the Rough Guide African music compilations. One of their latest, The Rough Guide to African Blues, is another example of their well researched and wide-ranging musical surveys.

I’ll feature two tracks today off this compilation: the first from a “country” I’ve never featured on Benn loxo, Western Sahara. (If you’re unsure why I put quotation marks around the word “country” you better do some reading.)

Mariem Hassan’s voice is beautiful. She is a Saharawi, a Western Sarahan people who live in exile in neighbouring Algeria, born into a griot (igawen) family. Her brother plus two other musicians from the Tinduf refugee camp accompany her on the track, La Tumchi Anni, which translates to “don’t desert me.”

Our second track is by Ayaléw Mèsfin & Black Lion band who are from, as you probably already guessed if you’re listening to the track now, Ethiopia. He lives in the US now, but apparently his record shop back in Addis is still top for classic golden era Ethiopia rock and soul. We love that kind of thing here, you know.

Mariem Hassan - La Tumchi Anni
Ayaléw Mèsfin and Black Lion Band - Feqer Aydelem Wey

Today we break from our Original Music series while I’m away with a guest post from first time Benn loxo contributor, Gerben:

“Some time ago i saw the movie Va, Vis Et Deviens which features the Mahmoud Ahmed song Yaselame Lalo. I had actually forgotten i have it on his album Live In Paris. But i did remember i have a very nice 20 minute live recording from him playing in Amsterdam that i recorded years ago from Dutch radio.

I later digitized the tape, the quality is not very good but the music is great. Apparently the Dutch radio station that broadcast it received the tape from someone who went to this concert.

There are two songs there, the first one is Yaselame. This version is more traditional than on Live in Paris (no saxophone but flutes) and very dynamic. No idea what the other song is but I am curious to find it out and I am also very curious if more if these live recordings of him exist, it tastes like so much more.

The other recording is also a tape transfer from a Dutch radio broadcast and features Super Biton de Segou with I.R.I. and Tere, equally great. Both recordings are somewhere between 15-20 years old, don’t remember exactly when i recorded them.”

This Mahmoud Ahmed track is truly amazing. I would’ve loved to be at that show. I can just see his shoulders rocking out to the rhythms. Thanks for the music, Gerben. If someone can help him out with identifying the music I’m sure he’d appreciate it. -Matt

Mahmoud Ahmed - Yaselame (Live)
Super Biton (Live)

I went to a Gotan Project show the other night in Paris. They saved the best for last- their encore included a great version of Triptico, my favourite track that brings back memories of rainy Toronto nights many years ago, and a surprise appearance by Saian Supa Crew who managed to get the (very mixed) crowd out of the forcefully reclining seats at the Rex.

At the end of the show the stage was packed with a white French DJ, black French rappers, an Argentinian accordian player and the rest of the Buenos Aires crew. As the lights go up, what do we hear? Ethiopian jazz.

Well-known Ethiopian singer, Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw, put out a project a few years back called Abyssinia Infinite. It incorporates many elements of acoustic, more traditional Ehtiopian music but also adds a contemporary touch… and some accordian. The track I picked for today pretty much sums up that collision of culture and sound at the end of the Gotan show.

Abyssinia, by the way, is the former name for Ethiopia/Eritrea.

Abyssinia Infinite - Gedowa

James Brown died today. He was 73.

Benn loxo listener, Henri, sent me this Sekouba Diabaté track to post as a tribute. I’ll also post a track by “Ethiopia’s James Brown”, Alemayehu Eshete, to show how far his influence spread.

I can’t say anything positive about James Brown the person, but his music and style influenced multiple generations and forever shaped soul and funk. RIP.

 
Sekouba “Bambino” Diabaté - It’s a Man’s, Man’s World
Alemayehu Eshete - Hirut Beqele

Don’t get me wrong - I love Christmas, especially the bit where I get to blast Domenic The Italian Christmas Donkey in my car with the windows down.

But I need a break after the overdrive of carols… so I was digging through my collection this afternoon and decided to put together a little gift: my favourite African hiphop tunes, at least for this warm Christmas Eve afternoon.

It’s a good opportunity for new Benn loxo listeners to do some catch-up and hear tracks that were posted before they found this site. For the rest of us it’s a little collection of beats I hope you all enjoy.. plus a Madvillain bonus track that’s too good to leave off. Merry Christmas.

If you want to suggest any of your African hiphop favourites that didn’t make this quick mix leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Bole 2 Harlem - Hoya Hoye
Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim - Elengwen
Gokh-Bi System - Xaesal
X-Plastaz - Msimu kwa msimu
Mode9 - Track 1
Daara J - Boomerang
Positive Black Soul - Boul Ma Mine
Outshine - Caution
Batman Samini - Lambori
Positive Black Soul - Redemption
Awadi - Le cri ou peuple
Xuman et Bugz Bunny - Sassouné
Abass - Abass
Viviane & Fou Malade - Taximan
Omzo - Missalu Aduna
Slam Revolution Feat BMG 44
Posse & Doudou - Africa Lakalé
Boul N’Baï - SIDA
Slam Revolution - Wax Degg
Mode9 - Track 4
Madvillain - Figaro (101 Remix)

Benn loxo listener, Tristra, sent me some really great new music the other day. Bole 2 Harlem are an Ethiopian-American group out of NYC who combine traditional Ethiopian sounds with hiphop and other contemporary American styles.

The album grew out of Saturday night jam sessions at NYC Moroccan-French restaurant L’Orange Bleue. The mix of Ethiopian, American and Malian musicians who played together there everntually decided to put out an album.

I’m all about fusion and getting people otherwise not bothered about African music to give it a listen. It’s great, then, to see groups like this who make something that sounds cool to the young, urban American ear even while incorporating foreign styles.

You’ll hear this album played at parties and in taxis in both Ethiopia and North America.. that kind of successful musical bridging is rare. It’s also cool to hear some contemporary Ethopian-inspired sounds that aren’t from the “golden age” of Addis Ababa in the 1960s and 1970s.

You can grab Bole2Harlem on Amazon or at a good record shop after it’s release in the US on November 21st. Check-out their web site for more info. I’m loving the second track, Home, this morning…

Bole 2 Harlem - Bole 2 Harlem
Bole2Harlem - Home

Benn loxo listener, Henri, sent me a video clip from the Ethiopian concert we both attended in Bobigny last week. We exchanged a couple e-mails on our thoughts about the show.. here’s what I think:

Overall I was quite disappointed. The first group, led by blind Ethiopian singer Jimmy Mohammad, was ruined by a Dutch drummer who acted like he was on peyote and played like he was the batteur for Megadeth. It was a real shame that his drumming and antics were distracting everyone from the good singing, Ethiopian percussionist and interestingly electric krar.

The second group featured classic Ethiopian saxophonist, Getatchew Mekuria, alongside the Dutch rock band, The Ex. I had read in Benn loxo comments and elsewhere that this seemingly strange pairing was actually really cool. It’s not. I have nothing against rock from The Netherlands or elsewhere. I listen to a lot of it. However, this mix just didn’t work. For starters I don’t think I’d listen to The Ex on their own and their style didn’t blend at all with Getatchew Mekuria’s sax. It sounded like a classic case of When World Music Goes Wrong.

After the second set many people started to leave, mostly because they had run out of beer and water at the bar and the metro was going to close. Let’s pause here to say that the venue and concert organization was pretty sub-standard. Luckily I hung in there for Mahmoud Ahmed, Tsèdènia Gèbrè-Marqos and the Either/Orchestra.

Slumped in our chairs, dreading the metro-less trek home, I think that I speak for most people there when I say we were not ready to like the Either/Orchestra, especially when they played sans-singer for the first few songs. Amazingly they were refreshingly talented, tight and creative. When Tsèdènia Gèbrè-Marqos finally did make it on stage the crowd had woken up and thus reacted well to her beautiful singing. Mahmoud Ahmed came out a few songs later and wowed the crowd with singing, dancing and amazing audience engagement. What a performer.

Remember what I said a few posts ago about African performers almost always being amazing showmen? This was yet another example.

Today’s selection comes from the Mahmoud Ahmed album, Live in Paris, released by Long Distance in 1998. I’ve also included the video of Getatchew Mekuria playing sax at the Bobigny show that Henri sent me - thanks!

Mahmoud Ahmed - Gourague Song
Getatchew Mekuria live in Bobigny on April 6th, 2006

I’m pretty busy today but time for a quick post.

I already posted an Alemayehu Eshete track a while back, but I didn’t really do the guy justice. It’s a rare cloudy day in Dakar and everyone seems to be moving a little slower. Perfect weather for some more East Coast funk from The Man in 1970s Ethiopia.

One has to wonder what would have happened to Ethiopian music if the country hadn’t fallen apart in 1974. With the possible exception of Ghanaian Highilfe and Nigerian Afrobeat, I can’t think of another significant African musical movement in the 60s and 70s that was so cool. Leisure suits, afro cuts and guys running around screaming “baby, why dontchyou come back to me now, you know you want it, baby, you NEED me!” in Amharic.

Anyway. Lots to do. You can find great collections of his earlier music on the Ethiopiques compilations vols. 3, 9 and 10. (Don’t believe emusic, by the way. He didn’t die in 1969. Where’d they get that?)

ps- Unfortunately Eshete discovered the Casio in the 80s and 90s and never looked back. I suggest you stick to his early material if you don’t want to feel the same remorse as you may have felt when you re-watched The Neverending Story a little too late in your teens.

Alemayehu Eshete - Teredtchewalehu
Alemayehu Eshete - Eskegizew Bertchi

After yesterday’s hardcore we need to swing East and take it down a notch.

Aster Aweke is one of contemporary Ethiopian music’s finest voices. She was born in Gonda, Ethiopia, but grew-up in Addis Ababa. By the mid-1970s she had developed an interest in local music and started singing with some groups in Addis. Her powerful voice attracted the attention of musician Ali Tango who would go on to support her musically and financially as her career developed.

In 1978 she got a break when she started singing with the Roha Band. By ‘79, however, Ethiopia was descending into political chaos. Aweke fled the country, eventually settling in Washington DC by 1979. In the USA she quickly gained popularity among the American-Ethiopian community and eventually attracted quite a large following back home.

Two songs today, one from 1991’s album Kabu and another off the first volume of the wonderful Desert Blues compilation.

Aster Aweke - Tchewata
Aster Aweke - Y’shebellu

I promised some more grunting funk today, so here it is. Fresh-off the 8th volume of the popular Ethiopiques series, Swinging Addis, here’s Ethiopia’s Alemayehu Eshete sounding like he’s too-hot-can-you-handle-the-funk?

Volume 9 of the Ethiopiques series is devoted entirely to the man. He’s a big deal in Ethiopia or at least he was during 60s and 70s, otherwise known as the golden age of Ethiopian pop. People call him Ethiopia’s answer to James Brown and I wouldn’t disagree. Apparently he preferred Elvis over James Brown, but we’re lucky that the latter king influenced his music far more.

I’ve seen a few blogs post tracks off Ethiopiques albums lately but I thought I’d add a little context to the music. In the late 60s and early 70s the emperor of Ethiopia, Ras Tafari Makonnen aka Haile Sellassie, was at his peak. One of his many reforms was to relax state regulations that limited music sold and broadcast to “traditional” forms. This created a mini-boom in new Ethiopian pop music. The radios started putting black American music on heavy rotation and a whole generation of aspiring Western-style pop/soul/funk musicians was born.

I’ve also included another Ethiopian classic soul-funk tune by the Alemayno Eshirtay Group. I don’t know much about this tune other than it comes from the same era and I like it. Feel free to fill in the blanks with a comment.

Alemayno Eshirtay - Love is Love
Alemayehu Eschete - Tchero Adari Nègn (I Get By On My Own)