Éthiopiques 27: Centennial of the First Ethiopian Music Recordings

The latest volume in the É t h i o p i q u e s series presents a conundrum for all labels looking to strike a balance between t h e  h i s t o r i c a l l y significant, and the musically accessible. When the series started back in 1998 no one could have predicted its unqualified success, nor the fact that it would not only reintroduce the world afresh to a country’s musical canon, but that it would also be instrumental in launching artists like Mahmoud Ahmed to a wider audience, as well as encouraging Mulatu Astatke to spread his creative wings afresh.

So the problem with Éthiopiques 27 is not its significance or pedigree – it’s a beautifully presented two-CD set of the first Ethiopian recordings, made in Germany back in 1908, of the poet and musician Azmari Tèsséma Eshèté. But as music, it’s not really listenable beyond its academic curiosity value. This is mostly down to technology. Taken from the original 78rpm shellac discs, the recordings have a nasty habit of picking up some of the harsher inflections of his vocal, without capturing the full musical range. Underneath the voice, one can pick out the sounds of the masenqo fiddle.

In many ways it’s gratifying to hear evidence of this unchanged style from across the ages, and there is no doubt that this is a fascinating, well presented and timely historical document, which reading through the notes, might have been lost to the world. But wading through all the music in one sitting is only for the most dedicated.