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Ethiopia Part 2: Diaspora and Return
age provides links to a variety of features connected with Afropop Worldwide’s two-part Hip Deep series on Ethiopia: Part 1: Empire and Revolution and Part 2: Diaspora and Return. The two interviews with Harvard ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Ethiopiques CD producer Francis Falceto are fascinating, complimentary resources. Because they are long, we have divided each into two parts, roughly paralleling the material in our two programs. The two interviews for this week’s program, “Ethiopia Part 2: Diaspora and Return” are particularly interesting because the two observers see the present state of Ethiopian music very differently. Francis is persistently disappointed by what he sees as the failure of contemporary Ethiopian producers to match or exceed the creativity of their “golden age” counterparts in the 60s and 70s. Kay tends to take a longer view, and finds reason for optimism in longer historic patterns that run through Ethiopian history.
Resources:
Afropop's Ethiopian Playlist
Kay Shelemay interview: Ethiopia: Diaspora and Return
Francis Falceto interview: Ethiopia Diaspora and Return
Kay Shelemay interview: Ethiopia: Empire and Revolution
Francis Falceto interview: Ethiopia: Empire and Revolution
Afropop’s Ethiopian CD Discography
Note that some of the more recent Ethiopian releases featured on the program Ethiopia Part 2: Diaspora and Return, are hard to find. Dukem restaurant and nightclub in Washington, DC, does have a very up-to-date, in-house CD and DVD store. You cannot order music from the Dukem website, but if you’re in town, it’s well worth a visit. Also you can call Dukem at 202-667-8735 and order music and videos.
Contributed by: Banning Eyre
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