If you’re reading this… (Iain Scott Album Compiler)

If you’re reading this the chances are you’ve already been seduced by the mesmeric music found on ‘Ethiopiques’. The evocative modes that you’d be hard-pressed to identify as African; the insistent 6/8 groove that can send members of the audience into what appears to be an ecstatic dance; the twilight world where American jazz meets Ethiopian tradition to create an aural dreamscape so ideally suited to the soundtracks of art-house movies.

So these words are not about that. No, not at all. They’re a plea for the real world of Ethiopian music today. Yes, in the main, the acoustic bands of the 70s no longer exist. And yes, it’s very probable their demise was economic rather than artistic. Although promoters might still pay as much for just two musicians and an arsenal of electronics as they used to pay for a whole orchestra, the associated costs – particularly in the Ethiopian diaspora – are significantly less.

And you might regret that. But if Ethiopian music is only to be appreciated through a wistful and rosy rear-view mirror then a disservice is done, not only to the music, but also to a people. Because the songs are still there. The great performances are still there. The addictive rhythms and unique melodies that twist and twine in a manner that seems completely unconstrained by their pentatonic format … all these are still there.

And if the clothes are electronic and the aspirations more in tune with MTV than BBC Radio 4, France Inter or NPR, then so what? That’s only the surface. The Western world missed much of what went on in Ethiopian music the first time around. It would be ironic if, having finally caught up, we fixed our appreciation to a particular time and space, refusing to open our ears to its manifestations today.

Iain Scott www.triple-earth.co.uk 2009
(The Very Best of Ethiopique is compiled by Iain Scott and Steve Bunyan)

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