In this remarkable video, you can get a quick feel for the unique jazz tradition in Ethiopia, which reached a peak in the early 1970’s just before the fall of Emperor Selassie and just before our family returned to the country under the Marxist regime of Col. Mengistu–the era portrayed in my new memoir Running to the Fire (University of Iowa Press, 2015). Though the jazz clubs went out of business, we would hear the music in restaurants, serving as a quiet reminder of better times. Today, Ethiopian jazz is flowering again and one of the great groups of the past–The Ethiopiques–are getting long overdue attention. Listen and learn:
Tim Bascom, Author 