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Sandeep Mehta's avatar

I didn't see a mention of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou the Ethiopian composer/pianist and nun. Her life story is amazing. The Guardian did a profile on her and recordings are available.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emahoy_Tsegu%C3%A9-Maryam_Gu%C3%A8brou

https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/souvenirs

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Tyler King's avatar

Wonderful! Thank you for broadening my knowledge of this music. I also noticed that two of her compositions were featured in the 2021 Netflix movie Passing, which I intend to watch.

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Sandeep Mehta's avatar

One other reco is her music used in the soundtrack of the Cannes award winning film from India.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_We_Imagine_as_Light

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Tyler King's avatar

Thanks again. I have put both movies on my watch list.

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Dmitry Martov's avatar

Her music was also released on Volume 21 of the Éthiopiques series in 2006. And it appeared on the soundtrack of 2016 film PORTO. Thank you for your post!

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Tyler King's avatar

Thanks for the information - another film to add to the list.

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Sandeep Mehta's avatar

The Guardian links to a radio interview which is well worth listening to. Her music was performed in the Jerusalem church by a doctoral student from Canada who has been studying and transcribing her music I think

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Karl Straub's avatar

As usual, i never have time to fully dive into this— but! I have a lot of these ethio jazz collections, and the way you lined up different versions to show the development of these sounds is VERY helpful. I tend to just soak the stuff up, and seeing you lay the progression out is fascinating— it’s helping my understanding of grooves. This is good because i can literally use this improved understanding in my music and my teaching.

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Gerald Brennan's avatar

I remember how blown away I was to hear this music in that Bill Murray movie.

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Reka Blazsek's avatar

I love ethio-jazz too!!

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