Eritrean Music 2010: Eritrea’s Got Soul

One of my favorite Eritrean music 2010 albums was the release of the Asmara All Star’s “Eritrea’s Got Soul.” I think it is a particularly unique collection of music because it features many different artists from the Asmara, Eritrea’s capital city. Being a jazz aficionado, I appreciate the infusion of Eritrean big band, reggae, and jazz styles as well as the incorporation of a full horn section, and a variety of electronic instruments, including an electronic krar!

While many Eritrean musicians focus on politically-inspired music, it is refreshing to hear an album that leaves politics out of the picture so that the musicians can focus on great music-making. That is not to say that the politically-charged music of past decades was not as moving; but in such an instrumental-focused album, it is enjoyable to relax and listen to the music without necessarily understanding its cultural role.

While the album features many traditional Eritrean artists alongside new and upcoming artists, the CD was produced by Parisian, Bruno Blum. Blum himself is a songwriter and musician, and is especially known for his DJ mixes, such as his remix of “War” by Bob Marley.

Due to much of the political conflict with Ethiopia, Eritrean music was under a shadow for several decades. It is interesting to note that during this time, many Eritrean musicians were recorded on Ethiopian albums, which was initially difficult to distinguish because of the use of similar instruments and other cultural similarities. Also important to note is that Eritrea was largely secluded culturally from the rest of the world since the 1970s, thus music remained largely uninfluenced by other cultures during this time. Since then, many Eritrean musicians have felt pressure to modernize their sounds, but the unique jazz and traditional elements, I believe, are beautiful even without some of the technological advancements. With Eritrea’s newfound boldness and sense of pride and nationalism, putting together a collection of talented Eritrean musicians proved to be a very rewarding endeavor.