AYALEW MESFIN-HASABE (MY WORRIES)

Ayalew Mesfin is among the legends of the 1970s Ethiopian musical scene – his music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Ayalew was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of the country in 1974. Now, over 40 years later, his triumphant return – and the first time that his music has been presented in album form – gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history.For many who are now discovering this album and Ayalew Mesfin, the music created in 1970s Ethiopia will sound both familiar and alien: while the trappings of ’70s Ethiopian music carry some aspects that those in the West will easily identify with—trap drum kits, jazz big-band styled horn sections, guitars played through wah wah and fuzz pedals—the Ethiopian style of singing, and the modes in which the musicians move, may confound. Perhaps some who have delved into the instrumental Ethio-Jazz of Mulatu Astatke—a well-known Ethiopian musical expor