Éthiopiques, Vol. 10: Ethiopian Blues & Ballads / Ethiopiques, Vol. 10: Ethiopian Blues & Ballads

While Nigerian nightclub goers bounced and shimmied to the sounds of Fela Kuti and his many funk-minded disciples, a musical revolution of a very different sort was brewing on Africa’s distant eastern coast. In the dancehalls and supper clubs of Addis Ababa a new generation of musicians, inspired by the same American soul and jazz records, pioneered a mysterious fusion of Far Eastern sounds, modal jazz-derived improvisations, and traditional Amharic melodies. The music that these musicians produced during the golden age of “Swinging Addis” (1969-1975) is haunting and wholly unique, sounding like no other music produced in the 20th Century. The ballad style Tezeta, featured on this, the tenth volume of Buda Musique’s superlative Ethiopiques series, is slow burning and languorous. Where other Ethiopian music is breathless and exhilarating, Tezetas exude a cryptic melancholy: the narcotic tones that Coleridge heard in his dreams of Xanadu might have sounded something like this. The featured artists Mulatu Astetqé, Mahmoud Ahmed and Muluqèn Mèlléssé are among the finest that Ethiopia ever produced. This volume is the ideal place to begin an exploration of Ethiopian music.