Search - Alemayehu Eshete :: Ethiopiques 9

Alemayehu Eshete, whose works first appeared on volume 3 and volume 8 of this fabulous series, was perhaps the foremost stylist from the golden age of Ethiopian pop music. Nicknamed "the Ethiopian James Brown," he could certainly get down like the Godfather of Soul, and his band could hang onto a riff like pit bulls, while keeping it as downright funky as they do on "Yelben Betayiw," with its wah-wah flourishes. But Eshete also had a small Elvis Presley fixation, which found its way onto disc occasionally, as with "Memar Memeramer," whose rock feel, while far from authentic, has a refreshingly surreal quality similar to Japanese rock & roll. But soul and funk was his forte, from the yelp to the growl, and all that's missing is the "Good God, y'all" to make it into a Deep South experience as valid as anything from Memphis, Macon, or Muscle Shoals. Glorious, bizarre, but thoroughly captivating. --Chris Nickson