I'm in Addis!
Last night I got hypnotised by Ethiopian music, and had a shimmy-off with a traditional dancer in a restaurant. Now my shoulders hurt.
12 seconds of Ethiopian shoulder dance
Modern Ethiopian music has bizarre roots. In the 1920s Ras Tefari (a.k.a. the future Emperor Haile Selassie and the man who inspired the Jamaican pot-smokers) visited Jerusalem and was greeted by a brass band of 40 Armenian orphans, whom he brought back to Addis. Over the years the sounds absorbed jazz, swing and traditional Ethiopian music. A blend as diverse and disorientating as Ethiopia itself.
Shake it.
Ethiopiques 3 - The Golden Years of Ethiopian Music
Ethiopiques 7 - Mahmoud Ahmed
Aster Aweke - Track One
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