Netsa

Those who read the interview with her in these pages four years ago (December 2018, #143) will know that Minyeshu Kifle Tedla was born in Ethiopia where she was a singer and dancer with the National Dance Theatre but has been resident in Europe since seeking asylum in 1996. After settling in Holland she formed the Ethio-jazz group Chewata, with whom she recorded four albums and who again back her here. Netsa (‘Free’ in Amharic) is the follow-up to 2018’s Daa Dee and is a thrilling mix of traditional Ethiopian grooves laced with pop, jazz, soul, funk and reggae influences, played on both traditional and Western instruments.

You can hear the influence of Mulatu Astatke, with whom she has performed, but her voice is a gloriously singular instrument that puts her up there among the finest Ethiopian female vocalists alongside the likes of Aster Aweke and Gigi. The songs on Netsa deal with universal themes of unity, love and self-discovery, from the exuberant opener ‘Fidel’, which juxtaposes the haunting sound of the traditional chechezeya (fiddle) with stabs of jazzy horns via the Ethio-reggae vibe of ‘Qhakaza Thando’ (Shine Up Love), to the tezeta blues of ‘Ethio Yo Yo Pia’. It’s a vivid and entrancing hybrid. One would love to see her live. A WOMAD slot next year, perhaps?