Ethiopia

Ethiopia's vibrant music scene is best known for mystical jazz tunes combining a bunch of horns and organ sounds. Also, it's no wonder that Ethiopia is a home to many reggae artists, since Jamaica's Rastafarians worshipped Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. This has undoubtedly effected Ethiopia's own music scene as well. The whole Rastafarian movement has its other official home in Ethiopia. There are also some excellent groovy funk bands in the country along with more modern piano-led jazz. The middle east style vocals are not always that pleasant for ears of a Westerner who is accustomed to certain kinds of melody structures, but Ethiopian musicians generally prefer pentatonic  scales more familiar to Western listeners. Here is an almost two hour playlist and blog post on Fantastic Ethiopian music. Playlist: Ethiopia.




Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke is undoubtedly the most well-known Ethiopian musician. His mystical jazz became known to wide Western audiences with the film Broken Flowers. The band plays hypnotising and dark melodies, while organs, xylophones and saxophones take solo leads with their turn. Astatke's music is iconic and recognisable and just fantastic.

Hailu Mergia
Much like Mulatu Astatke, Haliu mergia has also received many new fans recently. His music sounds modern, even though its roots go way back. Hypnotising jams of excellent jazz with rock organ in the forefront. This summer Hailu Mergia is going to perform for all the hipsters of East London at the Field Day festival.

Wallias Band
Hailu Mergia's band plays similar kind of music to his solo stuff, but there's something more traditional in the band's music. The horn sections and especially saxophone have a huge role in this music. The band behind the horns plays funky jams accompanied by rock organs.

Debo Band
This band plays funky music with horns and strings. The bass, drums and guitars do their job perfectly in keeping on the groove, while instruments such as accordion paint mystic melodies over it. Debo band sounds much more modern than many bands in this genre.

Ester Rada
Ester Rada's music is a mix of funk, RnB and reggae. Sometimes she sounds a lot like Amy Winehouse, sometimes his music is distinctly Jamaican sounding and sometimes it takes recognisable influences from traditional Ethiopian songs.

Nazarenes
Nazarenes play pretty typical reggae music, but they do it extremely well. The low vocals mix to gather with typical reggae accent. The horn section sounds absolutely fantastic above the skilfully played bass lines and ticking guitars.

Gigi
Gigi plays reggae and ska music with groovy instrumentation. Some of her more recent albums sound a bit overly produced to my ears, but her older albums are absolutely beautiful. She's a fantastic singer.

Jah Lude
Jah Lude plays slow reggae with sometimes melancholic melodies. The instruments sound fantastic and fairly authentic, but a bit of autotune has been added to the vocals, which makes it sound a bit cheesy. Still, very pleasant stuff.

Kenna
Kenna is a modern funk/disco band that takes quite apparent influences from 80's new wave and post-punk music ash well as more modern club music. On top of traditional disco instruments they play strange organ sounds.

Aster Aweke
Aster Aweke's music is really groovy funk with modern sounds. Electric guitars have strange overdrive sounds and some of the horns are played with midi sounds, which makes the backgrounds a bit less authentic. The vocals have Asian tones , which makes this music very different from what most Western listeners are accustomed to.

Tilahun Gessesse
Tilahun Gessesse's backgrounds are fantastic funky jazz. His vocals follow melody patterns which are quite distinct from Western music. The horn sections are impressive and work beautifully in sync. the production is not very good and the backgrounds go silent when the vocals take over.

Alemayehu Eshete
This is traditional Ethiopian funk at its best. Groovy rhythms, dark melodies and clear electric guitars put together with excellent horn sections. The only problem is the quality of the recordings, which are very lo-fi indeed with modern standards.

Samuel Belay
Samuel Belay's music is pure afrobeat. Funky horn sections, African style vocals, jumping bass lines and groovy drumming. The production makes this music sound a bit old, but if you get over that, it sounds absolutely fantastic.

Hirut Bèqèlè
This artist's music is groovy and funky in just the right kind of way. The drums are very impressive, while electric guitars play wild solos and bass lines draft innovative melodies. The horns have an obvious role in the music as well. The vocals are high-pitched.

Muluqèn Mèllèssè
The dark melodies and funky backgrounds come together over synchronised horn sections. The bass lines are played skilfully and the low female vocals are very pleasant to listen to. This is Ethiopian groove as it's supposed to be.

Mahmoud Ahmed
Mahmoud Ahmed's funky music is put together by excellent horn sections, funky guitars and rock organs. The vocals paint strange melodies that sound a bit off-key for a Western listener, but they are by no means unpleasant.

Samuel Yirga
Samuel Yirga represents the more modern side of Ethiopian jazz. He plays atmospheric piano jazz with excellent sense of drama. Simplistic patterns range from silent to fast plunking. Beautiful and hypnotic stuff for all you jazz lovers.

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbro
This artist plays calm and beautiful piano melodies. These, quite traditional, Ethiopian lullabies are very jazzy but at the same time kind of simple to listen to. you can hear that the piano is played skilfully even though they're not trying to overdo it.

Getatchew Mekurya
Mekurya's jazz music sounds a lot like that of Mulatu Astatke's. The hypnotic pianos on the background with mystical saxophones on the forefront. This music is best enjoyed tired while lying on the sofa.

Ali Mohammed Birra
Ali Mohammed Birra's hypnotic songs are very good for meditative state. The organs paint a calm sound wall to the background while calm horn sections and subtle electric guitars play occasional sounds on top.

Tigist Shalbabaw
This artist plays traditional Ethiopian lullabies with traditional string instruments. The overall sound is very hypnotic. The vocals sound hauntingly strange. This is definitely the kind of music to listen to while relaxing.

Sèyfu Yohannès
Yohannès takes us back to basics with Ethiopian music. Hypnotising jazz grooves with mystical horn sections and groovy rhythms. The vocal harmonies take turns portraying mystical sounds. The most enjoyable parts are the wild saxophone solos.

Girma Bèyènè
The horns and organs are again in a vital role in this music, but while the vocals are present, the style goes to more calm atmosphere. The vocals are quite low and have that sense of music hall baritone music.

Tèwèldè Rèdda
This music sounds really old, but I'm not saying this like it would be a bad thing. The production is just very lo-fi. The basic sound is put together with horn sections, piano and groovy drums and bass again.

Lèmma Dèmissèw
This music could be called Ethiopian swing I suppose. It definitely has that kind of dancehall swing kind of undertone. The horns are again in a vital role, but instead of funky rhythms, the drums are playing more kind of swing/bossa nova kind of rhythms.

Tesfa-Maryam Kidane
This music doesn't really sound that traditionally Ethiopian. It has direct influences from American rock n' roll. It actually sounds a lot like Booker T & the M G 's. The electric guitars and rock organs take turns in playing wild solos.

Bahta Gebre-Heywet
This Ethiopian swing band plays groovy swing music with traditional sounding vocals. The guitars take the main stage while the rest of the band just focuses on getting on the groove.