Francis Falceto is a contemporary French
musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
and
music producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, specialising in
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 ...
and in particular
music of Ethiopia
Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.
The music of the Ethiopian H ...
which he helped propagate internationally from 1986 onwards.
[''The golden age of Ethiopian music''](_blank)
par Andy Morgan dans ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' du 2 mai 2008.
Biography
Francis Falceto programmed different world music at the of
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
when in 1984 he discovered a
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 ...
LP record
The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...
, via Bernard Gallodé. In 1985, he decided to undertake a trip to Ethiopia (via Moscow because of the
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
regime) in order to meet Mahmoud Ahmed,
then in 1986 again to reissue Mahmoud's
Ethio-jazz
Ethiopian jazz, also referred to as Ethio-jazz, is a blend of traditional Ethiopian music with jazz, combining the pentatonic scale-based melodies of Amharic music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of western music. Over time the genre ...
album ' (1975) on the Brussels-based
Crammed Discs
Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 400 albums and 300 ...
label.
[''Francis Falceto, roi du son éthiopien''](_blank)
by François-Xavier Gomez in ''Libération
(), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...
'' 31 October 2011. After the success of the record in Europe and in the United States, he decided in 1996 to create the ''
Éthiopiques
''Éthiopiques'' is a series of compact discs featuring Ethiopian singers and musicians. Many of the CDs compile songs from various singles and albums that Amha Records, Kaifa Records and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in Et ...
'' series with publisher
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' ...
in order to reissue Ethiopian music of the period 1950–1975, most of them produced by Amha Eshèté for the label
Amha Records and Ali Abdella Kaifa for
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 ...
[Francis Falceto :"There is no punk movement in Ethiopia! "](_blank)
by Julien Bouisset on 29 October 2011.[''Francis Falceto - Abyssinie swing. Images de la musique éthiopienne moderne''](_blank)
by Gérard Prunier, Annales d'Éthiopie, 2002, vol. 18, No 1, (pp. 285-286).[''Éthiopiques vol. 6 et 7''](_blank)
by Thierry Jousse in ''Les Inrocks
''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prima ...
'' 30 November 1998. of which he acquired the full rights, which was not without creating tensions with certain artists, including
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 ...
(''The king of sax shining on the world stage'' in ''
Ethiopian Reporter'' 28 January 2012). After the important international success of the series,
he also conducted numerous lectures on the subject.
Francis Falceto also proposed
Lili Boniche
Lili Boniche (born Élie Boniche; April 29, 1922 – March 6, 2008) was an Algerian singer of Andalusian classical music, Andalusian-Arab music. Boniche was the heir to an erudite, centuries-long tradition of Algerian song and a pillar of ''Franco ...
to realize a return on stage in the early 1990s and became his impresario.
''Disparition de Lili Boniche''
on the website of Radio France internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
19 March 2008
Prizes and distinctions
* 2008: World Music Award of the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
.
Works
* (en/fr) ''Abyssinie Swing: A Pictorial History of Modern Ethiopian Music'' - ''Images de la musique éthiopienne moderne'', Francis Falceto, éditions Shama Books, 2001 .
* ''Les Nuits d'Addis-Abeba'', Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher
Sebhat-Leab Gebre-Egziabher (; 5 May 1936 – 20 February 2012) was an Ethiopian writer from Tigray Region. He is famous for pioneering the naturalist writing style in Amharic. His writing style was not constrained by the traditional Ethiopian wr ...
transl. Francis Falceto, Actes Sud
Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members.
...
, 2004 .
See also
*
*
*
References
External links
Francis Falceto
on France Culture
France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France
Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
*France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...
Francis Falceto, ''l'amour du groove éthiopien''
on ''Marianne
Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.
Marianne is displayed i ...
'' (28 August 2008)
Collection Éthiopiques
on Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
FRANCIS FALCETO : DUST FATHER
on superflyrecords (31 October 2010)
Biography
on France Inter
France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France.
It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...
Francis Falceto-Ethiopia: Empire and Revolution
on Afropop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falceto, Francis
20th-century French musicologists
21st-century French musicologists
French record producers
Music of Ethiopia
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)