''Éthiopiques'' is a series of

compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of holding of uncompr ...

featuring

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

singers and musicians. Many of the CDs compile songs from various singles and albums that Amha Records,

Kaifa Records Kaifa Records was an Ethiopian record label. It released 53 records between 1973 and 1977. Ali Abdella Kaifa, better known as Ali Tango, managed the company. Singers who recorded for Kaifa included Alemayehu Eshete, Bizunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ah ...

and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Prominent singers and musicians from this era appearing on ''Éthiopiques'' releases include

Alemayehu Eshete Alemayehu Eshete Andarge (Amharic: ዓለማየሁ እሸቴ አንዳርጌ; June 1941 – 2 September 2021) was an Ethiopian singer, widely known as the "Abyssinian Elvis" for his dynamic performances and his fusion of traditional Ethiopian ...

Asnaketch Worku Asnaketch Worku () (born 1935 – 14 September 2011) was an Ethiopian singer who sang in the Amharic language and a ''krar'' instrumentalist, the instrument which symbolized her fame during the 1960s and 1970's. Asnaketch also had a long disti ...

Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed (Amharic language, Amharic: ማሕሙድ አሕመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopian Golden Age of music, Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, bef ...

Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Astatke (; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz". Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he ...

and Tilahun Gessesse. However, some other releases contain new recordings.

Overview

The

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

record label

Buda Musique Buda Musique is a French record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1987 by Gilles Fruchaux and Dominique Buscall. After Buscall died in 1990, Fruchaux became the sole owner. The label is especially known for its '' Éthiopiques' ...

began the ''Éthiopiques'' series in 1997 and initially compiled Ethiopian

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

releases from the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the subsequent CDs focus on

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, while others highlight individual musicians or specific styles. As of 2017, there have been 30 releases. None of the CDs feature modern-day

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

-based Ethiopian pop music. Francis Falceto is the producer of the series. Over 30 volumes have been released, each spotlighting different artists or styles. Some songs from ''Éthiopiques Volume 4'' were featured in the

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

film ''

Broken Flowers ''Broken Flowers'' is a 2005 French-American comedy drama, comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and produced by Jon Kilik and Stacey Smith. The film focuses on an aging "Don Juan" who embarks on a cross-country journey to track ...

''.

Discography

*(1998) ''Éthiopiques Volume 1: The Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music'', various artists *(1998) ''Éthiopiques Volume 2: Tètchawèt! Urban Azmaris of the 90s'', various artists *(1998) ''Éthiopiques Volume 3: Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music'', various artists *(1998) ''Éthiopiques Volume 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969–1974'',

*(1999) ''Éthiopiques Volume 5: Tigrigna Music'', various artists *(1999) ''Éthiopiques Volume 6: Almaz'',

*(1999) ''Éthiopiques Volume 7: Ere Mela Mela'',

*(2000) ''Éthiopiques Volume 8: Swinging Addis'', various artists *(2001) ''Éthiopiques Volume 9'',

*(2002) ''Éthiopiques Volume 10: Tezeta - Ethiopian Blues & Ballads'', various artists *(2002) ''Éthiopiques Volume 11: The Harp of King David'', Alemu Aga *(2003) ''Éthiopiques Volume 12: Konso Music and Songs'', various artists *(2003) ''Éthiopiques Volume 13: Ethiopian Groove'', various artists *(2003) ''Éthiopiques Volume 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax'', Getatchew Mekurya *(2003) ''Éthiopiques Volume 15: Jump to Addis'', various artists *(2003) ''Éthiopiques Volume 16: The Lady with the Krar'',

*(2004) ''Éthiopiques Volume 17'', Tilahun Gessesse *(2004) ''Éthiopiques Volume 18: Asguèbba!'' various artists *(2005) ''Éthiopiques Volume 19: Alemye'',

*(2005) ''Éthiopiques Volume 20: Live in Addis'', Either/Orchestra with

, Getatchew Mekurya, Tsedenia G. Markos, Bahta Hewet, Michael Belayneh *(2006) ''Éthiopiques Volume 21: Ethiopia Song'', Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou *(2007) ''Éthiogroove'' (DVD):

& Either/Orchestra, with Tsedenia G. Markos *(2007) ''Éthiopiques Volume 22: Alèmayèhu Eshèté'', featuring Girma Bèyènè *(2007) ''Éthiopiques Volume 23:

Orchestra Ethiopia Orchestra Ethiopia was an Ethiopian concert band formed in 1963 by the Egyptian-born American composer and ethnomusicologist Halim El-Dabh. The group, which was founded in Addis Ababa, comprised up to 30 traditional instrumentalists, vocalists, an ...

'' *(2007) ''The Very Best of Éthiopiques: Hypnotic Grooves from the Legendary Series'' *(2009) ''Éthiopiques Volume 24: Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music 1969–1975'' *(2009) ''Éthiopiques Volume 25: Modern Roots 1971–1975'' *(2010) ''Éthiopiques Volume 26:

& His Imperial Bodyguard Band 1972-74'' *(2010) ''Éthiopiques Volume 27: Centennial of the First Ethiopian Recordings, Azmari Tèssèma Eshèté 1910'' *(2011) ''The Very Best of Éthiopiques: Cult Hits from the Original Series'' *(2013) ''Éthiopiques Volume 28: Great Oromo Music'', Ali Mohammed Birra *(2014) ''Éthiopiques Volume 29: Mastawesha'', Kassa Tessema *(2017) ''Éthiopiques Volume 30: "Mistakes On Purpose"'', Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé

References

External links

Buda Musique ''Ethiopiques'' Record LabelRadio interview with Francis Falceto
from National Public Radio ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' program, July 16, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ethiopiques Music of Ethiopia Buda Musique artists Record labels established in 1997 1997 establishments in France

Overview

Discography

See also

References

External links