ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ: More Songs by Yeshimebet Dubale

Yeshimebet Dubale was the singer I started off the ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ series with a couple of years ago. I still know nothing about her. One notable development since then is an instrumental cover of her song "Tiz Alegn Andesew" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti called "Reminiscences (Before Today [2010])." And then there are these three new videos. መደሰት!

ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ: Zenet Muhaba

I can find no information about Zenet Muhaba online, but I hope these videos will serve as introduction enough. Like the posts I've done in the past for Yeshimebet Dubale and Tsehaye Yohannes, these state television performances are the only songs I can find by Zenet. The quality of these videos are usually poor at best, grainy, and often smattered with URLs in tacky fonts. The third video below, perhaps my favorite by Zenet Muhaba, is hopelessly marred by clipped audio. It's nevertheless well worth listening to. By the way, if you chance upon any of recordings by Zenet, Tsehaye, or Yeshimebet, please share them with the rest of us.












• Check out previous posts in the ongoing ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ series.

ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ: Tsehay Yohannes

 

The fact that Tsehay Yohannes (ፀሃየ ዮሃንስ) has not been featured on the voluminous Ethiopiques series is a testament to the richness of Ethiopia's musical history. Born in 1961, Yohannes (also spelled Yohanis) started singing for the Kebur Zebegna band at age 14 and recorded his debut album, Tey Munit, in 1974. He later played with the Roha Band and Dadimos Band. Having grown up in Tigrai but born in Gondar, Yohannes sang both in Amharic and Tigrinya and promoted cultural unity in his lyrics. Great dissension remains today between separatist Eritreans, Habesha, and Ethiopians alike. Because Amharic is considered an invasive language to the other cultures, illiteracy is a complicated issue in Ethiopia. Yohannes' hit song "Berta Zemede," a tribute to activist Edeget Beheberet Zemecha, became the official theme for the the "Manbebena Mestaf" and "Meseret Temehert" movements which almost doubled the literacy rate of the country in the 70s and 80s. He released a new album in 2007 and continues to perform today. The videos below range from fried psych funk to the more traditional and show this electric performer's full range as well as his special way of singing with his hands.

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• See more of the amazing Tsehay Yohannes hear, hear, hear, hear, and hear.
• Wade deeper into Murky Recess' ongoing ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ series.
• Visit the man's lionizing website. 
• A partial discography is posted in the Comments Section.

Bezunèsh Bèkèlè - Yenat Weletawa (197?)

If you have ever looked for and found the name Bezunèsh Bèkèlè on your Ethiopiques 13 CD or searched out her Greatest Hits compilation, then you'll likely to drool when you hear this album. For those less familiar with the "First Lady" of Addis Ababa's Golden Era, she started performing as early as the 1950s and was the first female singer in the tumultuous capital city to go modern. She gained great popularity as a singer for the Imperial Body Guard Band, and her success continued well into the 1970s. Most of the great Ethiopian musicians of this time played for institutional bands like the Army or Police orchestras. The Imperial Body Guard attempted to overthrow Emperor Haile Selassie in the early sixties, and failed. As a result, the emperor removed the band's 'imperial' title, and the "Golden Age" of Ethiopian pop was ushered in by smaller bands free to self-organize.

The songs featured on this collection were probably first released in the early 70s, though I can't say for sure. The heavy horns, perhaps the Body Guard Band or Dahlak Band, outmatch James Brown for hard fevered funk and Bezu's liltingly casual style belies the reedy sensuality of her voice. The sleeve pictured above, which is from a Philips-Ethiopia 45, is not the official cover for this collection, which is either a bootleg or perhaps released in a neighboring country. If you have more information about Bezunèsh Bèkèlè or this compilation in particular, you are welcome to write in.

ብዙነሽ በቀለ

ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ: Tlahoun Gèssèssè

"Tlahoun Gèssèssè (ጥላሁን ገሠሠ), known across Ethiopia and Sudan as "The Voice," first came to stardom at age 18 when he joined the Imperial Bodyguard Band.  Passionate performances as lead singer for the band would often end with tears streaked across his face.  His thinly veiled protest songs put him in hot water with Emperor Haile Selassie and he was thrown into prison when the Imperial Bodyguard attempted a coup d'tat in 1960.  He was eventually released when growing opposition against the Emperor forced him to adopt a more tolerant attitude to the music and night life of the capital city. Tlahoun Gèssèssè went on to become Ethiopia's most popular singer in the "swinging Addis Ababa years" of the 60s and 70s.

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•  More ጥላሁን ገሠሠ you crave here, here, & here.

• The Ethiopiques series has made Tlahoun Gèssèssè's music widely available in the West for the first time.

• Minyahel Tlahoun followed in his father's footsteps and became a star when he was still a teenager.

ግልጽ ያልሆነ ጉድጓድ: Yeshimebet Dubale

 

There is a cornucopia of great Ethiopian pop on YouTube, which I'll be posting more of in the future.  I stumbled across Yeshimebet Dubale a while back and have been in love ever since.  She has the most incredible voice.  These videos are, unfortunately, all of I've been able to track down of her music.  Anyone out there who knows where her stuff can be found, I'd greatly appreciate you breaking me off some information.