27 June 2013

Eritrea







Bereket Mengisteab was born in 1938 in the small village of Hazega, located about eighteen miles north of the Eritrean capital of Asmara. He spent the first two decades of his life farming there. During these years in Hazega, Bereket taught himself the krar (a five or six stringed lyre) & honed his musical skills, participating in all of the musical rituals that punctuate rural life.

After spending a few years in Asmara (which was part of Ethiopia at the time), Bereket moved to Addis Ababa in 1961. It was in Addis that Bereket made his stage debut, as a member of the Haile Selassie Theater Orchestra. During the previous year he spent in Asmara he never performed outside of his circle of friends. Bereket stayed with the Haile Selassie Theater Orchestra for a little over a decade, performing with the group throughout Ethiopia, in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal (at the 1966 Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres), & in Mexico (at the 1968 Summer Olympics). During these years he also made his first recordings, nine singles for the Philips label.


He plays Tigrigna music. Tigrigna music, mainly performed in Tigray Province in Ethiopia & Eritrea. It is quite distinct, both rhythmically & melodically from Ethiopian music like in the last post. Bereket plays the krar. Since the late 50s, many Eritrean musicians have encouraged the spread of the electric krar, which is now widely used. Bereket excels at the instrument, playing a wild, wailing wah-wahed style. Besides being a great krar artist, he is a phenomenal singer.


Bereket Mengisteab – Lebäy cassette, Toteel Music Vol. 5, 1984.
decryption code in comments

Side A –
Lebäy (My Heart or My Emotions)
Nefas nay Bäräkha (Wind of the Desert)
Wäzzamu (Handsome)
Täkkalit Shanbeqo (Wicked Flute)

Side B –
Zebbä Mästära (Comb of Ebony)
Hewwekh Zeb’i (Restless Hyena)
Färäsu (His Horse)
Deqdeq S’elmat (Utter Darkness)

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Eritrea's got pop music. It’s true. The Lula Band play some saccharine Afro-pop. Don’t know anything about them other than the singer was Yonathan Habte. The band is now broken up & Yonathan is living in Ethiopia, working on his music career.

decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Abey Kon T’hul
Tsegay Beraki Wuletki
Saba Sabina
Zhibir
Terife N
Nsamama
Ab Zim Zim Bereka
Milkti Gual Hewan
Kab Sinetey Diyu
Tchekinkiley Bhaki Bhaki
Alem

Enjoy popcorn lovers,





10 comments:

  1. Follow this for a handful of additional songs from Bereket Mengisteab that I snagged off the old Voice Of America blog

    https://mega.co.nz/#!kksVhLzY!CFn5G0DnjTgBTViEbC3RaWMHtSAw3GMnbhkvpwW9Ums

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you kind sir.
      More Bereket is just what we need.

      Delete
  2. sorry, i am new here. Is the whole text in the first comment the inscription key?
    looks quit long.

    You blog looks intresting (especially if i can work out how to dowwnload.
    greetz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LolaRadio,
      No need to apologize. each server is kinda different. For MEGA,
      if you just copy, cut, & paste...works best.
      For the Lebäy download, for example, just copy the decryption code
      that starts AW853 ending Q6BA3s. select the link beneath the Lebäy cassette cover graphic. When the MEGA link page loads, it will ask for a decryption code. Just paste what you copied AW8...A3s, accept the conditions from MEGA & you should be ready to download the file.

      Any more problems, just let me know.

      Thanks for your interest.

      Delete
  3. lolaradio has one of the best blogs out there
    i have been bouncing between here and there. esp
    into africa and the saheel
    robert

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello. Great archive!

    Could you please re-upload "Bereket Mengisteab – Lebäy"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Re-upped the Mengisteab.
      Lebäy
      FTGKOBglBl59xSFLa24Wflwg1O3ppNVgvAKlRVNCBf4
      Not for Sale
      M9lqHnwNMST5zmxihFty6W-Ojbg0NXRWz6CZDtyg4gA

      Delete
  5. his is my first time i visit here. I found so many entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the leisure here! Keep up the excellent work.
    aw8

    ReplyDelete