wtorek, 20 maja 2008

The Greatest Hits of Bezunesh Bekele (Ethiopia, 1960s)

You think it's folk music? Nope. Far from that. Just songs, regular stuff. Simply awesome. If you know Tilahun Gessesse, you get some idea - the band sound is pretty much similar (the same orchestra perhaps); but THESE vocals are incredible.
I'm desperately after ANY information on the singer and the recordings. The lady's first name sometimes appears in print as Bzunesh or Bizunesh, the surname - as Beqele. A few songs of hers surfaced on the 'Ethiopiques' compilation series, but not this material. This rip is from a cassette - 1st generation cd copy - borrowed from a friend of mine. I have processed the sound a little bit, so I think the resulting thing plays better than the source. The song titles are likely to contain spelling mistakes.
Please enjoy this stellar stuff.
ps. Not sure if I made myself clear, so: this is a MUST for EVERYONE, regardless of what kind of music you happen to be into. I can't remember when I last used so many capital letters...

5 komentarzy:

Kimberly pisze...

Awesome! I'm so excited that I stumbled across this post! =)

I saw your comment on Chocoreve and then came over here. I'm just beginning to get into Ethiopian music, so I'm always looking for new stuff. This is great! Thank you so much for taking the trouble to transfer and upload it. I'd love to see more Ethiopian music if you can borrow any more from your friend.

Again, thanks so much!

John B. pisze...

Just stumbled across your blog.  Your readers may be interested to know
that my blog Likembe features several
other classic recordings from Ethiopia
as well as some newer stuff.  There's lots of music from other parts of
Africa also.

Anonimowy pisze...

i have left the following messages at my blog-in case you won't see them i write them again here:
Yes the lady is Bezunesh Bekele,what a treasure!!!amazing-just listening and enjoying it!!!!many capitals!!!!!
thank you,the sound quality is very good also ,you did the right thing.this must be heard!
Bezunesh Bekele,legendary in her era, recorded from the 50's till the 70's for the Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia,i have spotted so far 2 records-Aha Gedawo and Yitchenkegnal,she was backed by the
{Imperial)Body Guard Band with arranger Sahle Degago.i also found the sleeve...
It will be very nice if i can have your permission to repost
with all respect!
salut.
----------------------------
i had some of them,plus 4-5 more songs,not ethiopiques- not included in the tape

Anonimowy pisze...

nice record, like the voice, you ever listened to Mohammed 'Jimmy' Mohammed?

reservatory pisze...

THANK YOU very very much for this fantastic collection. Had heard only a handful of her recordings before, and am really glad to have more...