Itineraries of Modern Ethiopian Instrumental Music
This dissertation explores the way in which Ethiopian musicians of the 1960s and 70s adapted forms such as jazz, soul and Latin music to create a new hybrid instrumental music style variously referred to as Ethio-Jazz or Ethio-Groove. It will then go on to investigate the impact that this music has had, in turn, on musicians in various locations around the world since its reissuing on CD in the late 1990s. The central focus is to investigate and articulate the role of individuals’ musical agency in this narrative, and to ask how, within the context of Ethiopian instrumental music and its offshoots, individual musicians and composers have engaged with, responded to and integrated music from elsewhere into their own musical languages. In particular, it looks at how musicians and composers have approached their own notion of creative individuality when their musical genealogy can be traced via affinities rather than geographic and ethnic inheritances. In adopting various influences these musicians, from both the original generation of Ethiopian musicians in the 60s and 70s who adapted soul, jazz and other American forms, and those from around the world who have in turn been influenced by this style of hybrid Ethiopian music, have had to unlock various technical musical problems, as well as navigate at times treacherous ethical waters and answer to allegations of cultural betrayal and/or appropriation. This dissertation identifies these problematic musical and ethical areas and, in the context of this criticism, it examines various viewpoints on how cultural interaction and exchange take place. The final chapter of this dissertation contextualizes my own creative portfolio, which accompanies this written work. It offers a personal response to the questions that have arisen from my affinity for Ethiopian music and from choosing an approach to composition closely informed by this affinity.