Likembe: Aster Aweke Live in Addis

Saturday, September 22, 2007

I just came across this - real Ethiopian music the way it was meant to be heard, played on real musical instruments and not cheap synthesizers:

spinning in air said...: Very nice clip, though AFAIK, Aster has always worked this way. A former boss told me of hearing her sing when she was working as a waitress at Aksum, the first Ethiopian restaurant established in the D.C. area. Apparently she did a lot of a cappella work. My ex-boss was actually disappointed with the kind of arrangement she used in the clip you posted! (She said the same about Mahmoud Ahmed - that he does lot of "roots" music in his live shows, with stripped-down instrumentation - I guess for the folks who are missing home.); September 23, 2007 at 12:07 AM
Comb & Razor said...: ha... them kids in the audience was feeling it!

funny thing, though: a few years ago, back when i first started digging Ethiopian music, i tried to discuss it with an Ethiopian girl and she kinda scoffed at me and said "that's not real Ethiopian music."

i know what she meant, though. i think.; September 23, 2007 at 6:40 AM

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