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Tadias Magazine, NY
Jan 25 2009
Treasure Trove of Ethiopian Music: Who is Tezera Haile Michael?
Published by Lifestyle Editor January 25th, 2009 in Reviews.
Photo: The Swinging Sixties - The Police Band strut their
stuff in 1965/6.
Source: Radiodiffusion
Obsession. That is the word that describes Francis Falceto. He is the
man behind the volume, and counting, Ã?thiopiques series on Buda
Music. In April of 1984, a friend of his lent him a copy of a Mahmoud
Ahmed album. A month later, he went to Ethiopia. Although it would be
over a decade before the Ã?thiopiques discs started showing up
in record shops around the world, he was responsible for the first
release abroad of modern Ethiopian music with the reissue of Mahmoud
Ahmed's 1975 album `Erè Mèla Mèla' for Crammed
Discs in 1986. But it is surprising, that in the span of the twenty
three discs and two DVDs that have been released since 1997, that
there is still plenty of territory that has yet to be covered.
The music of Ethiopia is the result of a very specific series of
events. First, there is Emperor Haile Sellassie's visit to Jerusalem
in 1923. While he was there, two significant things happened: He heard
brass band music for the first time and he met the `Arba Lijoch'. The
`Arba Lijoch' were a group of forty Armenian orphans (Amharic `forty
children') living at the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem, who had
escaped from the Armenian genocide in Turkey. They impressed Haile
Selassie so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian
Patriarch of Jerusalem to adopt them and bring them to Ethiopia, where
he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction. They arrived
in Addis Ababa on September 6, 1924, and along with their bandleader
Kevork Nalbandian to become the first official orchestra of the
nation. Nalbandian's nephew, Nerses Nalbandian - who was a composer,
arranger, chorus leader, and music teacher, would go on to become a
core person to develop modern music in that country. Throw in Peace
Corps volunteers bringing records from America, as well as the
American military radio at Kagnew Station in neighboring Eritrea
broadcasting the latest R & B, Soul, Rock and Pop hits, and you have a
potent combination of influences that produced one of the most unique
musical movements found in any country at that, or really any, point
in time.
But all of that ended in 1975, when the Derg ousted Emperor Haile
Selassie from power. The Derg, which means `committee' or `council' in
Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed
Forces, Police, and Territorial Army and was a communist military
junta led by a committee of military officers. Under their rule, the
nightlife of Addis Ababa faded away and the record labels
disappeared. The musicians were unable to leave the country, since
emigration became almost impossible and they needed an exit visa to
leave the country. The music may never have left Ethiopia, if it were
not for the few vinyl records that managed to find their way out into
the rest of the world.
The only information that I have been able to find about Tezera Haile
Michael, is that he was primarily a songwriter and arranger, who's
songs that were recorded by Bezunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ahmed (on all of
his self released singles) and Tilahoun Gessesse. I have also seen him
credited as a back up singer for some of the early recordings of the
Imperial Body Guard Band, who are the backing band on this record. As
far as I know, this was his only recording where he was the featured
vocalist.
http://www.tadias.com/2009/01/ 25/treasure-trove-of-ethiopian-music-who-is-tezera -haile-michael/
Jan 25 2009
Treasure Trove of Ethiopian Music: Who is Tezera Haile Michael?
Published by Lifestyle Editor January 25th, 2009 in Reviews.
Photo: The Swinging Sixties - The Police Band strut their
stuff in 1965/6.
Source: Radiodiffusion
Obsession. That is the word that describes Francis Falceto. He is the
man behind the volume, and counting, Ã?thiopiques series on Buda
Music. In April of 1984, a friend of his lent him a copy of a Mahmoud
Ahmed album. A month later, he went to Ethiopia. Although it would be
over a decade before the Ã?thiopiques discs started showing up
in record shops around the world, he was responsible for the first
release abroad of modern Ethiopian music with the reissue of Mahmoud
Ahmed's 1975 album `Erè Mèla Mèla' for Crammed
Discs in 1986. But it is surprising, that in the span of the twenty
three discs and two DVDs that have been released since 1997, that
there is still plenty of territory that has yet to be covered.
The music of Ethiopia is the result of a very specific series of
events. First, there is Emperor Haile Sellassie's visit to Jerusalem
in 1923. While he was there, two significant things happened: He heard
brass band music for the first time and he met the `Arba Lijoch'. The
`Arba Lijoch' were a group of forty Armenian orphans (Amharic `forty
children') living at the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem, who had
escaped from the Armenian genocide in Turkey. They impressed Haile
Selassie so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian
Patriarch of Jerusalem to adopt them and bring them to Ethiopia, where
he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction. They arrived
in Addis Ababa on September 6, 1924, and along with their bandleader
Kevork Nalbandian to become the first official orchestra of the
nation. Nalbandian's nephew, Nerses Nalbandian - who was a composer,
arranger, chorus leader, and music teacher, would go on to become a
core person to develop modern music in that country. Throw in Peace
Corps volunteers bringing records from America, as well as the
American military radio at Kagnew Station in neighboring Eritrea
broadcasting the latest R & B, Soul, Rock and Pop hits, and you have a
potent combination of influences that produced one of the most unique
musical movements found in any country at that, or really any, point
in time.
But all of that ended in 1975, when the Derg ousted Emperor Haile
Selassie from power. The Derg, which means `committee' or `council' in
Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed
Forces, Police, and Territorial Army and was a communist military
junta led by a committee of military officers. Under their rule, the
nightlife of Addis Ababa faded away and the record labels
disappeared. The musicians were unable to leave the country, since
emigration became almost impossible and they needed an exit visa to
leave the country. The music may never have left Ethiopia, if it were
not for the few vinyl records that managed to find their way out into
the rest of the world.
The only information that I have been able to find about Tezera Haile
Michael, is that he was primarily a songwriter and arranger, who's
songs that were recorded by Bezunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ahmed (on all of
his self released singles) and Tilahoun Gessesse. I have also seen him
credited as a back up singer for some of the early recordings of the
Imperial Body Guard Band, who are the backing band on this record. As
far as I know, this was his only recording where he was the featured
vocalist.
http://www.tadias.com/2009/01/ 25/treasure-trove-of-ethiopian-music-who-is-tezera -haile-michael/