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A trip to a country that almost defines ancient in Ethiopia awaits as we take off for Addis Ababa with Dunia Aljawad for maximum mystery vibes and quality audio with some of the best past & present that Abyssinia has to offer.
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
May 11, 2022
The Drop with Danno
Mulatu Astatke – Yegelle Tezeta
Alamayehu Eshete – Talantena Zare
Seyfu Yohannes – Mela uela
Ayalew Mesfin & The Black Lion Band – Feqer aydelem wey
The Scorpions feat Saif Abu Bakr – Saat Alfarah
Dur-Dur Band – Garsore Waa Ilaah
Hailu Mergia – Yefikir Engurguro (mixed)
Tsegue Maryam Gebrou – Homesickness Pt 2
Akale Wube – Jour de pluie
Girma Bayene feat Akale Wube – Feqer Ende Krar (Yebeqagnal)
Gigi – Gud Fella
Abyssinia Band – I Am A Flower At Your Yard
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight, and flight TD 073 is readying for takeoff from Incheon International Airport presently, so we are about to get in the cab to the bus depot here in Gwangju, and we hope you have your complimentary boarding passes in hand, fair listener. This is Danno ready with packed bags by the curb from studio 2, GFN HQ in Downtown Gwangju, how do you do? Tonight we’ll be joined once again by Dunia Aljawad for our trip to Addis Ababa, the great capital of Ethiopia for this week’s radio adventure. For those unaware, Ethiopia is a very old cultural center of the world whether you’re talking about music, food, the arts or whatever else. A place that’s been through a lot in more recent times, but has never been diminished, we’ll get going with the exploration of the audio side of that starting in just moments and going until the end of the show. However, before we get in the cab, let’s get in the car with Bill Murray and a bouquet of broken flowers with Mulatu leading the way. THIS is The Drop.
Mulatu Astatke – Yegelle Tezeta
The Drop is on the bus tonight headphones plugged in as we depart for Incheon International this evening. What’s happening tonight, Drop Gangsters (Korean)? Danno on the mic in our imaginative reality coming at you but not for you from studio 2, GFN HQ, downtown Gwangju.
For those just joining us, we got a ride with Bill Murray and Mulatu Astatke right there to begin things with some history tonight. That song was Yegelle Tezeta by the father of Ethiojazz, featured heavily in Broken Flowers from 2005 directed by Jim Jarmusch.
While Mulatu Astatke nowadays is a well-known quantity the world over and has been a household name in Ethiopia for decades, the former was not always the case. His music was generally rather forgotten in the west until the 1990s when some rare groove compilations featured a few of his stellar works.
Arguably the most important musician in Ethiopia’s deep musical traditions, the man is a living treasure and still making music in his sunset years. We’ll hear both the old and new from Mulatu Astatke in hour 2 with Dunia Aljawad when we’re in Addis and the Ethiosurrounds.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
Next block, we’ll continue on the old school tip tonight here in parts 1 & 2, and the next block we have cuts from Alamayehu Eshete, Seyfu Yohannes and The Black Lion Band, all of which we’ll discuss further after the sounds die down. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to Addis.
_________
Back on The Drop still on the bus to ICN, kind of watching spring in Korea pass by the window as we ready for the flight to Ethiopia tonight with Dunia Aljawad at the top of the hour. Keeping it old school and Ethiopian strictly in that last block although we do have a pair of niceties from Ethiopia’s neighbors to finish here in part 1, but for now let’s go over what just went into the atmosphere…
Alamayehu Eshete – Talantena Zare (…for those that do not know the singer, through thick and thin we are talking about a vocalist who made music for almost 60 years. Nicknamed The Ethiopian Elvis, Eshete had a very distinctive vocal delivery that you just heard there, but unfortunately the singer passed away just months ago aged 80 late last year, may he rest in power.)
Seyfu Yohannes – Mela uela (…a pioneer of funk and soul who unlike his partner, the previously played Alemayehu Eshete, passed away after only 6 recordings at the age of 26. Both worked together during that short precious time, becoming independent leaders in the funk & soul movement of Ethiopia in the 1960s, earning Yohannes the nickname of Ethiopia’s James Brown.)
Ayalew Mesfin & The Black Lion Band – Feqer aydelim wey (…another artist of the 70’s hugely influenced by funk & soul from the US, Mesfin has an amazing story. Once the Derg Regime came to power, he was banned from making music but he made 4000 tapes to give out anyway and was betrayed and arrested, spending several months in prison. In 1991, the Derg Regime fell, and he was able to properly publish music once again, and he still makes it after moving to the US in 1998 and resettling in Denver.)
Alright, so we’re almost to the terminal right now, but we got plenty of time. We’re going to visit Ethiopia’s neighbors to end part 1 and show some of the sound interplay going on in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Up next is The Scorpions from Sudan along with Saif Abu Bakr on the vocals with a tune called Saat Alfarah, and then we’ll go to Somalia with a group that actually resettled in Ethiopia after 1991 called The Dur-Dur Band, and this finality for our first stanza is titled Garsore Waa Ilaah. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to Abyssinia.
The Scorpions feat Saif Abu Bakr – Saat Alfarah
Dur-Dur Band – Garsore Waa Ilaah
II.
The Drop is back after the first jump of the evening on our Round Trip Wednesday, departing at 9pm tonight on flight TD073 bound for Addis Ababa International Aiport in Ethiopia’s capital, and we continue here in part 2 with the pre-flight exploration of the magic, majesty, and mystery of that culturally rich, incredible country. Danno here in studio 2, GFN HQ, downtown Gwangju and the lovely Dunia Aljawad joins us later on once we’re ready for takeoff…
Hailu Mergia – Yefikir Engurguro (mixed) (… the final tune featured on a Fabric presents DJ set by Maribou State released in 2020, this is one of my favorite piano solos of all time, and reminds me of my dog Dirty’s life. Just taking happy walks in Korea where I found him and later in Chicago then back here to Gwangju until, like the song, he later floated away. For all you dog owners missing your departed pets tonight, it’s been almost a year for me and I’m still not over it.)
Tsegue Maryam Gebrou – Homesickness Pt. 2 (…another beautiful pianist from Ethiopia right here, another favorite of the keys released long ago in 1963. The album is called Emahoy Piano Solo, if you wanna check out more.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
Next block we’ll continue with the slow burn mystery of the Ethiopiques. Up next is a pair of tunes featuring Akale Wube and then we have Gigi to wrap things up in the block. We’ll discuss all of this after the properly pronounced Amharic but for now THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday evening to Ethiopia.
_________
The Drop has arrived at the gate, keeping it dreamy and detached as we watch all the weird masked madness surrounding us in the terminal. Continuing with the sounds of our destination tonight to the end of part 3, so let’s get to the recap for now while we await boarding’s final call. ...
Akale Wube – Jour de pluie (…now, it must be noted this is a Parisian band, but despite the French roots, the sound is 100% inspired by Ethiojazz and funk from the artists we’ve been playing this hour. They also have a very vintage aesthetic in the recording, which would make you think this is Addis in the 1970s and not Paris in the 2010’s.)
Girma Bayene feat Akale Wube – Feqer Ende Krar (Yebeqagnal) (…obviously, apologies for my butchery of this Amharic title & the lack of translation. This tune was originally put out on Amha Records in 1974, an original pressing that is nigh impossible to find nowadays, but if one did, you’d be richer than Emperor Haile Selassie himself. Okay, that’s a bit far, but you’d get a good bit of coin for it, like a few thousand dollars for one disc.)
Gigi – Gud Fella (…a tune off the Addis star’s debut self-titled album. The artist and this record in particular broke a lot of barriers for Ethiopian music in the modern age, and we’ll have more about that and the incredible group of people she worked with on this album when we’re in Addis.)
Towards halftime this evening, we’ll finish with a little bit of a long player from the Abyssinia Band as we board the flight to Abyssinia itself. This tune’s title is thankfully translated into English, called I Am A Flower At Your Yard, and that will be our closer this evening and thankfully I’m not gonna touch the actual Amheric title. Stay tuned as flight TD073 takes off in mere moments, and THIS is The Drop on your Abyssianian Round Trip Wednesday night.
The Abyssinian Band – I Am A Flower At Your Yard
III & IV Round Trip
Hailu Mergia - Tezeta
Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha
Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu
Mulatu Astatke & The Black Jesus Experience – To Know Without Knowing
Teddy Afro - Mar eske Tuwaf
Gigi - Enoralehu
Abdu Kiar & Melat Kelemework (Weye Weye)
Hamelmal Abate – LINUR
Dub Colossus – Azmari Dub
Sung Si-kyung - On the street (거리에서)
015B – Goodbye Now
Hailu Mergia – Tezeta
- Recorded while Hailu Mergia and The Walias were the resident band at the Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel back in 1975, this is the title track of a recently released compilation of songs made during this period while the band had downtime during the days, which was released last year.
- The Hilton apparently was a bit of a refuge from the repression of The Derg, who had outlawed nightclubs and outside music during their terror campaign.
- Patrons could stay all night after curfew, listening to Hailu Mergia play stuff like this into the wee hours (usually 5am) and not get in trouble for breaking the rules on bedtime.
- Hailu Mergia eventually would move to DC by the 1980s, living a nondescript life as a cab driver in the US capitol, but continued to work on his famed breezy take on Ethiojazz.
Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha
• born in the Shewa Province moved to Addis Ababa at age 10
• taught himself the accordion at age 14. His mastering of the accordion, as well as the keyboard and his talent for "re-purposing folk songs into funkier modern melodies," defined his contribution to popular music in Ethiopia.
• In the 1970s, Hailu Mergia was the keyboardist in the Walias Band, a jazz and funk band with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker.
• Due to the Derg dictatorship, censorship was often a problem for the area's musicians, but Hailu acknowledged one way around censorship was to only create instrumentals. He later noted: "When you sing or write lyrics you have to support the government, and if you don't do that then you have a problem."
Mulatu Astatke - Ethio-Jazz
• an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of Ethio-jazz.
• Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music.
• Mulatu led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums—instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organs. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music, and Mulatu appears on all three known albums of instrumentals that were released during the Ethiopian Golden 1970s.
Teddy Afro- Mar eske Tuwaf
• an Ethiopian singer-songwriter. Known by his revolutionary songs and political dissent sentiment, Teddy is considered one of the most significant Ethiopian artists of all time.
• Teddy has had a huge cultural impact on the Ethiopian music industry and has been a big influence on many young artists.
• Despite involving with the entertainment industry, his parents discouraged him to pursue his music career.
Gigi – Enoralehu
- The singer was born in Ethiopia in 1974 as things were really starting to get bad in the Derg period. Moving to Kenya for a few years, Gigi eventually made it to San Francisco in the US.
- Gigi recorded two albums for the expatriate Ethiopian community, but it was her 2001 album, titled simply Gigi, that brought her widespread attention. She had been noticed by Palm Pictures owner Chris Blackwell, who had years earlier introduced reggae to the mainstream through his former label, Island Records. Blackwell and Gigi's producer (and later, husband) Bill Laswell, decided to use American jazz musicians (including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, and others) to accompany Gigi on the album.
Abdu Kiar & Melat Kelemework (Weye Weye)
• an Ethiopian singer and rapper. He gained popularity in 2003 with the release of his debut album, Merkato Sefere. Kiar's music is influenced by musical styles including hip-hop.
• Immediately after graduating from high school, he joined the express music band in 1997 performing dancehall, hip hop and reggae in local night clubs and coffee houses. In 1998, Abdu went to Saudi Arabia and worked as a salesman in a fashion store in Jeddah.
Hamelmal Abate - LINUR
• an Ethiopian singer, performer and a fashion Icon. Her incredible voice and timeless arrangement appeals to generations. Her music has both traditional and modern appeal, making her as one of the top singers and performer in the country.
• Hamelmal is very outspoken in many social issues in the country including her strong stand on copy right laws in Ethiopia, challenging the system and the implementation of the law as disadvantageous for musicians and artists. She insists a change in the countries copy right law, and the need to sensitize the public to respect and obey intellectual property rights.
• She is also a Good Will Ambassador for Oxfam’s rural women economic empowerment project.
Dub Colossus – Azmari Dub
- This is a project originally envisioned by Londoner Nick Page, who had previously been the maestro behind Transglobal Underground and Temple of Sound.
- The band however would be nothing without the Ethiopian band that Page put together, blending traditional Ethiopian, African, and of course Jamaican sounds.
- This tune specifically is from 2008’s debut album A Town Called Addis.
Sung Si-kyung - On the street (거리에서)
• a South Korean singer and television host. He debuted in 2001 and has released eight studio albums in Korean and two studio albums in Japanese. He has also hosted and appeared on numerous South Korean variety television shows
• Representative Korean Ballad & Drama OST Singer
015B – Goodbye Now
• 015B (공일오비) is a male producer duo under their own label, THE015B. They originally debuted in 1990 as a four-member band. Following the release of their sixth album, The Sixth Sense - Farewell to the World, 015B disbanded to focus on solo activities in 1996.