Music Monday: ethiopian jazz
March 29th, 2010
I was watching Broken Flowers this weekend (on a Jarmusch marathon lately), and the soundtrack largely revolves around Mulatu Astatke songs. I’ve always been a fan of his song Yèkèrmo Sèw, but never really thought to look into other songs. Ah, this movie did it for me. iTunes purchase minutes later, on repeat all weekend (luckily Billy finds it just as amazing as I do.) Tezeta is just so unbelievably beautiful. I want to listen to it while laying in the dark with my eyes closed, volume all the way up…
March 29th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Oh man, I listen to Tezeta regularly when I’m driving with the windows down. It’s perfect and makes me melt.
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March 29th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
OHH, I love Mulatu Astatke!
And, if you collect records, there’s a very large series of boxsets from the label Soundway (I thiiink it’s Soundway, I’m blanking a bit); Ethiopian Jazz, Ghana Funk, and Nigerian Blues. They’re not too hefty in price (about 45$ for each boxset, which seems about right with 4-6 records in each). And they’re absolutely brilliant.
There’s also the Ethiopiques series which are just as good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopiques
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March 29th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Uh, looove this! Lying in a dark room with the volume turned up would be PERFECT.
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March 29th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Somewhere along the lines of fusion there is an album called “African Scream Contest” – a mix of strange/amazing Benin and Togo 70′s era funk that sounds like it came straight from Chicago and filtered through the west coast of Africa. it is amazing and shocking and so… so danceable. If Mulatu Astake is Thursday afternoon music, African Scream Contest is Friday at 2am. Lemme know if you can’t find it, I’ll forward you a bootleg.
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March 29th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Wow, I seem to be outside the loop on this one. I’ve never hear Mulatu Astatke before, but I’m sure glad you introduced me.
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March 29th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Oh wow, thanks so much for sharing this!!
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March 29th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Nice choice! Good movie too.
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March 29th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
It’s so smoooooth! This is the type of music one usually hears at the Cost Plus Work Market store. It’s very good marketing on their part I must say. Puts you a very relaxed state as you wander the aisles. Makes you want to buy something exotic! hehe :)
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March 29th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
A friend sent me “Tezeta” several months ago. I had no idea it was from Broken Flowers. What a beautiful piece of music!
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March 30th, 2010 at 3:13 am
Dear Kate,
After an emotional whirlwind of a day — moving house, money fears, where-to-next study angst — listening to Tezeta is having the most incredible calming effect on me. Wow. I can imagine being on an old train, winding along a coastal track, with it playing from an old radio. What a peaceful end to a flurry of a day. Thank you ever so much.
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March 30th, 2010 at 3:26 am
[...] Browsing through the blogs in my Google Reader, I came across this post by Kate. She mentioned a movie called Broken Flowers which I’ve added to my Netflix [...]
March 30th, 2010 at 10:22 am
we were lucky enough to see him live a couple of years ago; it was magical!
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March 30th, 2010 at 10:54 am
thanks for sharing ethio jazz ! I’m hearing it for the first time and falling in love with it.
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March 30th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Thank you so much Kate! That is a beautiful piece of music, so inspiring and soothing.
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April 1st, 2010 at 10:49 am
Oh, thank you for introducing me to him! I have a soft spot for African jazz and Afro Beat, but have never heard of him before. Just downloaded an album off emusic, yay! :)
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April 1st, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Thanks so much for sharing this! I have heard that song Yakermo Sew before but never knew who it was, and I love this sound. I have a feeling I’m going to be hooked too! Perfect for warm evenings and cool breezes…(good music makes me wish for summer)
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April 9th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
The second song is really speaking to my spirit this morning in Seoul. Thank you for sharing this.
What an elegant and hopeful way to wake up.
Thank you,
Felicia
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