Thursday, August 11, 2011

CD Review: Addis Acoustic Project's 'Tewesta'




Tewesta (Remembrance)



The jazzy sounds of Ethiopia's Golden Era of music during the 1950's and 60's are reimagined by the Addis Acoustic Project on Tewesta. The album's title is Amharic for 'remembrance'. As a nod to nostalgia, Tewesta is a mostly instrumental work of fifteen different songs by the Addis Ababa-based group. The album is directed by guitarist and arranger Girum Mezmur. The instrumental repertoire consists of the guitar, accordion, double bass, mandolin, clarinet, darbouka, bongos, oud, and massinko. The mandolin provides a more Celtic sound; especially on 'Selam Yihoun Lehoulachin'. However, the rest of the album is uniquely Ethiopian with some Latin and Klezmer-type rhythms and sounds. An exceptionally jazzy song is 'Enigenagnalen,' which precedes a slow and soulful ballad called 'Kewedet Tegegnech.' Mezmur is 'mezmur'izing [sic] on all accords. A thirty-page liner booklet includes history/music information in English and French. ~ Matthew Forss




2 comments:

Ethiopian Music said...
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Ethiopian Music said...

great album, i just got it a few days ago and i loved it.