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I'm Glad About It: The Legacy Of Gospel Music In Louisville
In the mid-20th century, Louisville gospel music was occasionally recorded when members of the local gospel community pressed 45rpm records and LPs, and released them through grassroots record labels such as Sensational Sounds, Grace, Blessed, and D.J.S. Over the years, a substantial body of work was produced in our city, but those recordings are in danger of being lost forever.
The Louisville Story Program has been working with dozens of people in the local gospel music community to locate, dig…
Life in Heaven is Free - Checker Gospel 1961 - 1973
Gospel melts into Soul in this dazzling collection of sides originally released by the Chess subsidiary label Checker. Devised by the same team supporting the likes of Muddy Waters and Etta James at Chess, the vintage of Checker Gospel celebrated here is distinguished by its expertly raw, rugged, live feel — thumping bass and pounding drums, bluesy guitar and horns — and its keen engagement with contemporary realities and politics, with an underlying, unwavering commitment to the Civil Rights mo…
Éthiopiques 29: Mastawesha
*2024 stock* Kassa (1927-1973) belongs to the long tradition of melancholy raconteurs with a decided gift of gab. The unique embrace of his deep voice heightens the emotion generated by the hum of his lyrics. For Ethiopians he is, along with such other great post-war voices as Assèfa Abatè, Fréw Haylou, Asnaqètch Wèrqu or Kètèma Mèkonnen, a perfect example of the culture of the word: poetry and freedom of expression, wit and impressive verve that hits the mark, quiet vehemence and merciless loqu…
Éthiopiques 28: Great Oromo Music
*2024 stock* For a long time downplayed and deprived of any recognition whatsoever, oromo music is one of the liveliest Ethiopian musical traditions. This 28th volume of Ethiopique pays tribute to Ali Birra, the man in whom Oromo music has irrepressibly affirmed itself since the 1960s. A very unusual groove, very different from gouragué, amhara and tigrignarhythms, a relentless quest for identity and, on top of that, a guitar style that would stand out anywhere. (Most of the pieces presented her…
Éthiopiques 26: Mahmoud Ahmed & The Imperial Bodyguard Band (1972-74)
*2024 stock* “An authentic legend in Ethiopia, Mahmoud Ahmed has set the bases of a truly original musical style in that he synthesizes the most diverse influences into a language both typical and universal. With his haunting, husky and velvety voice that rises up in wild spirals, Mahmoud Ahmed has invented a world of uncertain borders, an unlikely mix of East-African rhythmic turns, mysterious melodies with refined ornamentation and surprising Indian inflections, all this streaked with electric…
Éthiopiques 25: 1971-1975 Modern Roots
*2024 stock* The Swinging Addis of the 1960s and early 1970s (before the dreadful Derg’s Stalinist-military glaciation) was a period of intense experimenting that encompassed the traditional repertoire. Whether Oromo or Amhara, all the greatest voices of the time took part with intense creative fervour, as can be heard on this 25th CD in the Ethiopiques collection. It features such pop singers as Tlahoun Gèssèssè, Alèmayèhu Eshèté, Sèyfou Yohannes, Essatu Tèssèmma etc. as well as traditional art…
Éthiopiques 24: Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music 1969-1975
*2024 stock* As was the case with Ethiopiques 1 and 3, this 24th CD in the Ethiopiques collection presents a selection of powerful pieces from the historical Amha Records catalogue. We meet again with such artists as Ayaléw Mèsfin, Gétatchèw Kassa and Sèyfou Yohannes, and are introduced to other artists as yet unreleased or hardly known in the West, among them Menelik Wèsnatchèw, Seyoum Gèbrèyès, Tamrat Molla and Wubshèt Fisseha. Bonus tracks: Two pieces by the young Mulatu Astatqé, recorded in …
Éthiopiques 22: More Vintage! 1972-1974
*2024 stock* Alèmayèhu Eshèté is no less than one of the great voices of the heyday of modern Ethiopian music -- the Swinging Sixties which, in Ethiopia, went on until the fall of the Emperor Haile Sellassie I in 1974. On a par with Tlahoun Gèssèssè, Bzunèsh Bèqèlè or Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu is a star at the top of the constellation that once lit up the wild nights in the capital city Addis Ababa. The singer, as remarkable for his frenetic rock numbers as for his heart-rending ballads, has, by …
Éthiopiques 20: Live In Addis
*2024 stock* Russ Gershon and his Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra have included many Ethiopian pieces into their repertoire in recent years. In January 2004, the Boston big band travelled to Addis for a dream-come-true concert featuring prestigious Ethiopian guests, among them Mulatu Astatqè (Ethiopiques 4, «Broken Flowers») and Gétatchèw Mekurya (Ethiopiques 14). This recording perfectly renders the energy and emotion of this gathering, with beautiful arrangements remarkably performed by exce…
Éthiopiques 19: Alèmyé
*2024 stock* «An authentic legend in Ethiopia, Mahmoud Ahmed has laid down the basis of a music style which is resolutely original in the way it synthesizes the most diverse influences into a language both typical and universal. With his haunting, serpentine voice, at the same time raucous and velvety, Mahmoud Ahmed has invented a world of uncertain borders, an improbable mix of Eastern-African rhythmic lines, mysterious laments with refined ornamentation and melodies of unexpected Indian modula…
Éthiopiques 17: Tlahoun Gèssèssè
*2024 stock* To Ethiopian audiences, Tlahoun Gèssèssè is THE VOICE, even more so than Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu Eshèté or Mulatu Astatqé. Endowed with a phenomenal, innate vocal talent, he has been the asbsolute and unequalled icon for an entire country since the fifties, heading up the list of Ethiopian discography. Based around seven ‘modernist’ pieces arranged by the brilliant and innovative Mulatu Astatqé (Ethiopiques 4 : «Ethiojazz»), these first Ethiopiques devoted to Talhoun Gèssèssè also …
Coming From Reality
Back in 1971, Coming From Reality was Rodriguez’s last gasp, the follow-up to Cold Fact and the final album he was allowed to record for the Sussex label. Unearthed, once again, by Light In The Attic Records, it’s another treat for fans new and old, designed – at the time – as Rodriguez’s vision of a perfect pop album.
Coming From Reality found Rodriguez decamping from Detroit to London’s Lansdowne Studios, where the album was recorded with some of the UK’s top talent including Chris Spedding …