Customer Reviews

Ethiopiques 14

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This is the CD I have been waiting for. I expected much of it, but as is sometimes the case with good things, it exceeded my expectations.

Getatchew Mekurya plays the saxophone like no one else. He has developed a style of playing the part of the singer and the traditional accompaniment to the singer (the masinqo) with the saxophone, thus creating a whole new approach to sax playing that has set apart Ethiopian sax players from the rest of the world.

This CD features Getatchew Mekurya from the early seventies, with a small band of great Ethiopian musicians. It features two vesions of the Ethiopian war song - the Shilela - that has been Getatchew Mekurya's trademark. His playing is always emotional and committed, his sound is always raspy and human. His ability to talk with his sax reminds me of my favorite Jazz sax player - Lester Young.

This CD has stayed on my CD player since I got it. It is just such a great and refreshing sound - I cant listen to other things (yet...). I recommend it to saxophone players, fans of Ethiopian music, or any other serious music fans.

I just want to second the two other eloquent reviewers. I am amazed that as late as Vol. 14 there is still so much exquisite music to be found in the archives of Ethiopian Pop. And to think I was ready to stop with Vol. 10! Sometimes this music is hallucinatory. And the organ sounds! Indispensable.

I agree with the others -- at first, it sounds unfamiliar, but after listening a couple times through I was hooked. This music doesn't grow stale after repeated listenings -- instead it grows more interesting and engaging. I just wish I could find more music by this anazing performer.

I was very pleased to receive this CD a couple of days ago. Initially I gave it a cursory listen and thought, well, no big deal. The next morning, early, in semi-darkness and fog at the beach, I was kicking back in my van and really started to listen. At that point I began to find this music having all kinds of hidden qualities and that Getatchew Merkurya is a phenomenal musician. What he is doing on the tenor sax is very subtle and very complex. The sound is all over the spectrum. The more I listen the more I hear. This is pretty deep stuff. He must have practiced a ton to get to where he could produce these sounds. Now I realize that he is also on alot of other CDs in this series and is a major force in this type of music. Most people would find this whole branch of music very obscure, but to me it's become an important part of how I connect to music and the role it plays in my life.

I grew up watching Gashe Getachew on Ethiopian TV's Variety show. Whenever I listen to this CD, it takes me back to my roots and remember my country (Ethiopia) with moist eyes. Yet another great musician from the country that has given us great music personalities such as St. Yared, Dr. Ashenafi Kebede (founder of Yared music school), Mulatu Astatke (Ethiopiques Vol. 1), Tilaye Gebre, Tewdros Mekonnen ...