Girma Beyene & Akale Wube Ethiopiques 30: Mistakes on Purpose

There are stars that fade away, unnoticed. And then one day they reappear, as if by magic…That’s what happened to Girma Bèyènè, a glorious yet painfully shy musician. A lady-killer, yet lovelorn. An expert at fading into the woodwork, yet forever a rebel.
Beginning in the early 1960s and for some 20 years, Girma Bèyènè was one of the most creative and prolific artists on the Ethiopian musical scene. And also amongst its most recognised and celebrated. After the fall of Emperor Haile Sellassie (1974) and the turbulence that followed, Girma seized the first opportunity (1981) to slip away from the revolutionary promises that now lay in ruins. Gave in to his absolute fascination with America, and took a chance on an uncertain exile rather than languish in Stalinist paradise. And heedless of the twists of fate that would soon conspire to take Girma away from the public stage.
A singer who left behind all too few recordings as a soloist (cf. éthiopiques 8), it was mainly as a pianist and organist, composer and arranger that Girma would leave his mark on what has now come to be known as the golden age of Ethiopian music. His composition "Muziqawi silt" has given rise to more than 30 cover versions around the world, an all-time record for an Ethiopian title.