In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Addis Ababa had a thriving music scene: big bands, nightclubs, jazz-influenced grooves and powerful singers. Then revolution came, and much of that music disappeared from view.
Decades later, a French producer and a Paris record label set out to bring it back. The result was Éthiopiques.
Swinging Addis
Under Emperor Haile Selassie, Addis Ababa’s music scene grew around military and police bands, which trained musicians and played for the public. Singers and bandleaders mixed Ethiopian scales and melodies with jazz, soul and funk. Independent record labels, such as Kaifa and Amha Records, released singles and LPs.
The revolution
In 1974, the emperor was overthrown and a military government, the Derg, took power. A curfew and political repression ended much of the nightlife. Many musicians left the country or stopped performing.
Francis Falceto
Francis Falceto, a French music enthusiast, became fascinated by Ethiopian records in the 1980s. He travelled to Ethiopia, collected recordings and worked to reissue them.
Mahmoud Ahmed
In 1986, the Belgian label Crammed Discs released Erè Mèla Mèla, a collection of recordings by singer Mahmoud Ahmed with the Ibex Band, drawn from LPs made in Addis a decade earlier. It introduced many Western listeners to Ethiopian music.
The series
In 1997, Buda Musique began the Éthiopiques series with Falceto as producer. It compiled Ethiopian popular music from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as traditional and later music. Volume 7, released in 1999, reissued Mahmoud Ahmed’s Erè Mèla Mèla.
Mulatu and the film
The series included music by Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz. When the director Jim Jarmusch used Mulatu’s music in the 2005 film Broken Flowers, interest in Ethiopian music rose further.
The volumes
The series grew to many volumes, featuring singers, instrumentalists and bands from the golden age as well as traditional music. Each came with detailed notes about the artists and the era.
A revival
Éthiopiques led to concerts, tours and new recordings by veteran Ethiopian musicians, who found audiences abroad decades after their prime. Younger bands around the world began playing Ethio-jazz and Ethio-funk.
Saved from the shelf
Much of the music on Éthiopiques existed only on old records in Addis Ababa homes and shops. The series turned a local memory into a global library, and the musicians who made it lived to see strangers dancing to their songs.
