Ethiopia: Muzikawi reissues Dawit Yifru’s debut album

The release offers an exceptional occasion to rediscover one of the most important eras in Ethiopia’s music history.

The 11-track album, featuring a compilation of songs that were restored and remastered from cassettes released throughout the 1970s, is available for streaming and download on major digital platforms and for purchase on vinyl from 30 March. 

With Ethiopian chickchika music, twist, Congolese rumba and waltz styles converging, the songs reflect the dynamic musical crossroads that were present at the time in the Horn of Africa country. However, it is the inclusion of the violin, which was an uncommon instrument at the time, that presents Dawit Yifru as a visionary composer amongst his mates at the time.

“These elements have come together to create Ethio-jazz music at its most bold, spiritual and syncretic,” Muzikawi founder Teshome Wondimu said. “With this compilation, Dawit Yifru offers a bright window into Ethiopia’s past music scene which is so rich, deep and sophisticated, with a gentle, beautiful story to tell – and we see ourselves as the messengers who are bringing the world this story and sound.”

This compilation is the first release of the Muzikawi’s Archive and Research project, which seeks to re-record and re-issue some of Ethiopia’s most celebrated music that never made it outside the country and in the process bring fame and recognition to musicians whose music was never available on the international market.

“Every country has its stars, its loved singers, but there are of course titans of their era and Dawit Yifru is one of the few,” Wondimu added. “The reason many will be experiencing his works for the first time is that in the 1970s, the Ethiopian music ‘industry’ thrived only in the capital Addis Ababa with little recording infrastructure in comparison to its neighbours like Kenya and Uganda, where cult record labels and producers captured the countries’ sound and made the recordings available internationally and for the masses.”

“Therefore, our project is a guaranteed way to keep these great works of music alive and circulating. Overall, this compilation is an absolutely brilliant and must-own recording from one of the most original-sounding Ethiopian composers you’ll ever hear. Hopefully, this release will open the door for the world to discover more incredible music and culture from Ethiopia.”

Dawit Yifru remains a household name in Ethiopia due to his commitment to collaborating with a diverse range of musicians and sharing his musical skills not just with his peers but also with the new generation of musicians.