When most folks think of Ethiopian music they hear the slithering soul-funk sounds created by artists like Mahmoud Ahmed or Tilahun Gessesse—killer singers who delivered Amharic-language jams with raspy finesse and earthy grunts—and the so-called Ethio-jazz of the keyboardist and vibist Mulatu Astatke. All of their work employs a pinched pentatonic scale, giving the music its otherworldly quality to western ears.…
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