Éthiopiques, Vol. 7: Erè Mèla Mèla - Mahmoud Ahmed
Album
Beginning his career as a handyman at the Arizona Club before rising to stardom with the Imperial Bodyguard Band, Mahmoud Ahmed possessed one of the most expressive and athletic voices in modern Ethiopian music. Backed by the incandescent Ibex Band on these 1975 recordings, Ahmed delivers soaring vocal melismas over funk basslines and staccato brass bursts. The title track became an international touchstone, turning a traditional song of romantic plea into a devastating funk masterpiece.