éthiopiques - Golden years of Ethiopian music

Despite the disaster-laden clichés of desert, starvation and poverty projected by the media over the past decennia, Ethiopia is one of the world’s most fascinating countries, musically and in every other sense. First of all, it’s the only country in Africa that has never been colonised and its people have kept a proud tradition of fighting for their independence. The country is also very unusual for its rich Orthodox Christian heritage, which the Ethiopians maintained even when all its neighbours embraced Islam in the 7th century. Isolated in the heights of their natural fortress, fed with the history of several millenia, Ethiopians are barely interested in the rest of the planet, and seem impervious to universalist mingling. All this is reflected in the uniqueness of the people’s music, which reached a climax between 1969 and 1978 when just under 500 45-rpm records and 30 albums full of heart-rending soul music were released. Thanks to long-time afficionado Francis Falceto’s amazing re-issue series ‘Ethiopiques’ on the French Buda label, the genius of Ethiopian soul music is now within everybody’s reach. Although Francis enlightens quite a lot about the music in the wonderful booklets that accompany each CD, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity of talking TO him about The Golden Age of Ethiopian Soul Music when he assisted Mahmoud Ahmed on a European tour…

So how did you discover popular Ethiopian music, Francis?

Well, first of all, I have been in the music business for over 20 years; my specific domain being World Music and Experimental Music. In april of 1984, I was introduced to modern Ethiopian music at a party of a friend of mine who had been to Africa and had bought a Mahmoud Ahmed record in Addis Abeba. The music was dazzling and I played the record to all of my friends. I also sent tapes to journalists and critics and everybody was astonished about the superiority of the music. At the time, I was working with a non-profit organisation called ‘L’Oreille est Hardie’ in Poitiers, France. As a manager of a club called ‘Le Confort Moderne’, I got an opportunity to go to Ethiopia to find out more about this amazing kind of music. So I went to Ethiopia 2 times and in 1986, I decided to re-issue the Mahmoud Ahmed record in Europe on a Belgian label called Crammed Disc. This very record has now been remastered and reissued with 2 extra tracks as Volume 7 in the ‘Ethiopiques’ collection.

Was the original album ‘Era Mela Mela’ a compilation of hit singles by Mahmoud Ahmed?

Not at all, it was a complete album released at the time on a very important Ethiopian label called ‘Kafia Records’. I was very lucky that this friend of mine had bought this particular album in Addis Abeba. For the re-issue on Crammed Disc, I didn’t release the album in its entirety however as I found a few tracks less intriguing. I did add two tracks from another record in order to make the record perfect. For the 1999 re-issue on Buda, I have included those two tracks again, as well as the 2 original tracks not on the first re-issue of 1986. The 1999 re-issue now comprises all of Mahmoud Ahmed’s recordings for Kaifa Records.

Why did you change from the Belgian Crammed Disc to the French Buda Musique?

I proposed the re-issue project to Crammed Disc, to a major label, and to Buda Musique. All 3 were interested but only Buda Musique wanted to re-issue a complete collection. Of course I chose for them because in this way, I could really focus on different styles of Ethiopian music instead of just giving a superficial overview. There’s so much terrific Ethiopian music people haven’t heard yet.

What sets Ethiopia apart from other African countries?

It took me quite some time to understand the country and its inhabitants a little bit. Ethiopia is indeed completely different than any other African country. There’s no common ground, especially because in the first place, the country has never been colonised. The country was occupied between 1935 and 1941 by Mussolini, but 5 years is a piece of cake compared to 3000 years of history. It’s a negligible fact, like the Italian occupation of France during the First World War. This makes Ethiopians very proud of their independence. There’s also another very important historical fact which explains the uniqueness of Ethiopian people. In 1896, Italy tried to colonise Ethiopia but was military beaten by the Ethiopians during The Battle of Adoua. This was a unique event in the history of Africa: an African country that beats a European army! Definitely something you won’t learn at school. Both facts explain why Ethiopians have a different mentality than any other African people. You’ll never meet an Ethiopian in Ethiopia saying “Alors patron, comment ça va?”. Never!

There’s also a geographic difference with the rest of Africa.

Contrary to popular belief arisen by the images seen on TV in 1985-86, Ethiopia is anything but a desert of starving people. It is a country of high plateaux. The size of Ethiopia is like two times that of France and about 2/3 of this big area lies above 2000 meters with Addis Ababa at 2600 meters. Although there are some desert like zones like the Djibouti border and the Locaden desert close to The Red Sea, the rest of the country exists of high plateaux with grasslands. The main reason of the starvation we saw on television some 14 years ago was not the desert but the civil war. For over 30 years, there has been an independence war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In a country in war, there are always people dying from starvation. If you see what happened in 4 years in Bosnia-Herzegovina, you can imagine the situation for 30 years in Africa. The West in general does give you a completely false view on Ethiopia. They think it’s just a desert. So you see, for all these geographical and historic reasons, Ethiopians are a very special people. As far as music is concerned, they are absolutely not interested in other African music. You won’t find a Zairian, Sudanese or North-African influence in their music. You will never hear Congolese rumba music. I mean, once in a while, you will probably hear it nowadays on the radio, but in the past it was out of the question. Ethiopians are almost living in isolation and their music is little known outside the country. You will find some in Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia or Yemen but outside those countries nobody knows Ethiopian music in Africa. Not to speak of the rest of the world…

But you do here echoes of American soul music. How do you explain this?

That’s true but I think this particular sound, this particular groove comes in the first place from the brass instruments, which were also one of the main features in soul music. There are indeed more European or American influences in Ethiopian music than African ones. There are 2 reasons for this. First of all, the music teachers who trained the military and institutional orchestras came from Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. Also many Armenians settled in Ethiopia in the past. All these people were main contributors to modern Ethiopian music. Secondly, between the end of the 1940’s and 1974, a military base was installed at Asmara, the current capital city of Eritrea. This American base had its own radio and diffused all kinds of music from the 40's, 50's and 60's : swing orchestras like Glen Miller and Cab Calloway, rock ‘n’ roll music from Elvis and 60’s soul music giants like Otis Redding and James Brown. Even though this music couldn’t be broadcasted in the whole country but only in Eritrea, it left its influence and gave that particular groove to Ethiopian music. I do believe however that the brass instruments are the main reason for the Ethiopian soul groove while other Ethiopian music was made with mainly Eastern instruments.

Is there a main distinction between Eritrean and Ethiopian music?

Absolutely! The music, the beat is completely different. The type of Eritrean music called Tigrinya, the rhythm, you won’t find it in the music of Mahmoud Ahmed. It’s a region that has its own type of music, its own particular culture. That’s one of the reasons of their fight for independence. They have their own special language, different from the one spoken in the high plateaux. Their music is different, their customs are different, but on the other hand they still have a lot of things in common with the rest of Ethiopia.

Ahma Eshete, creator of the Amha Records label, was the driving force behind the brief creative burst between 1969 and 1978. In 1987, the idea arose of tracking down Amha Eshete in the USA to convince him to reissue his fabulous collection. Did you have difficulties in tracking him down?

To be honest, it wasn’t all that difficult. I knew he had fled to the USA and in 1987, I found him in Washington which has a huge Ethiopian community. Ever since 1987, I have tried to make the Ethiopiques series and it took me 10 more years to realise the project. Ahma is a wonderful man. For me, he’s a genius and that’s why I pay tribute to him at the beginning of each booklet. Everybody knows the artists are great but I think we must pay tribute to the producers as well. Not because I am one myself but because one cannot do a thing without a producer. Many Ethiopians were surprised to hear that I paid tribute to a producer but they begin to understand that producers are not only in it for the money but that they are artists too. I have especially respect for Ahma because he was only 24 years when he founded the label and because he defied an Imperial decree that granted a monopoly over the production and importation of records to a national institution called ‘The Love of Country Association’. This institution however was lame to say the least so Ahma, a young and enterprising young man was bored and wanted to do something about the situation. At first, he went through a lot of scandal but soon, people started to realise he was the one who made things move and it was about time things started to move.

Is there a vibrant Ethiopian music scene today?

Personally, the music that was made before the dictatorship is the most beautiful Ethiopian music available today. During the military junta, a curfew was imposed, which lasted for 18 years. Curfews put an end to any nightlife and Ethiopian music was almost totally extinguished. Many musicians became exiles. Since the fall of the dictatorship in 1991, Ethiopia is reconstructing and the music scene ain’t very interesting. I don’t like current Ethiopian music that much, especially when comparing to the music made 25-30 years ago. Maybe, things will better but at the moment the repercussions from 20 years of dictatorship translate into money-making. Synthesizers and rhythm boxes are omnipresent. The brass bands, which I like very much, have totally disappeared. That’s the reason why I do not record contemporary Ethiopian music. Maybe I will in the future...

Is Mahmoud Ahmed still a star in Ethiopia?

He is still the biggest star. There used to be a bigger star before him, Tlahoun Gèssèssè, but he retired. Mahmoud has his own nightclub 'Ouaira' where he plays every week.

You were asked to participate in a Brussels exhibition about Ethiopia but you declined the offer. How come?

I didn’t like the way the organisers wanted to present Ethiopian music. They wanted me to compile a CD of Ethiopian music which I agreed upon. As an example, they gave me a CD that had been compiled for a former exhibition about Benin. The CD however was a field recording made with a walkman or DAT. Back in Brussels, synthesizers were added to give the recording ‘a final touch’. I was horrified and I did no longer want to contribute to the project. I don’t like the concept of ‘World Music’ as being music from a foreign country with a western touch. People who pretend they can improve Ethiopian music because they are white or because they have beautiful studios where dubs & synthesizers can be added, are incredibly stupid.

interview taken in Antwerp on 14/06/1998