Six months ago I posted a selection of contemporary Menzuma, Islamic praise songs, from Ethiopia. This post features another selection of contemporary Ethiopian religious songs, a set of Begena pieces, devotional music of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Ethiopian Orthodox faithful are about half-way through the eight weeks of fasting before Fasika (Easter). These songs can be currently heard throughout Addis Ababa, on the radio and from market stalls selling religious texts, devotional items and paraphernalia.
This selection features three Begena players. Tadele Gedif and Zemari Kedame Tsega Yohannes are younger artists, Tadese Tesfaye has been praising Orthodox saints for decades. This is music for meditation.
(The title of this post is slightly misleading as not all of these tracks feature autotune. I could have replaced autotune with 'celestial reverb'.)
More lovely Begena recordings here.
Enjoy!!
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