The world of international music can be fascinating in its complexity and enjoyable in the adventurous nature of the music on the whole. The music of Africa is especially appreciated for this reason and Ethiopia music is among the finest out there. Considered a musically traditional country, the music of Ethiopia is very diverse and varied. Some forms of the tribal Ethiopia music are influenced by religious beliefs from Islam while other forms take their influence from a lot of the folk music in the area.  Ancient music from Ethiopia also has a distinctive Christian element that is related to their descent from Yared, a man who lived during the reign of Gabra Masqal.

 With such an extensive and influential history, it’s no wonder that Ethiopia music remains to be diverse and popular. Throughout recent history, before the 1990s, Ethiopia went through a period in its history that was especially hard on the people. This included a siege of floods and famines that overtook the land and cost many lives. This part of the history of Ethiopia has helped to shape the land into what it is now and influenced the people in many ways. The country is currently in the middle of a rebuilding process, however, and is starting to re-establish some of their infrastructure to create a way of life for the people. This, of course, also influences the musical expression of Ethiopians.

The Continual Influence Of History

Music, because of the changes made in the last decade or two, has become more accessible outside of Ethiopia’s major city, Addis Ababa. Before the changes to the structure of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa was the major cultural center of Ethiopia music and held much of the culture of the country within its borders. Since then, music has grown throughout the land again and people are practicing all sorts of new styles and flavors of music in their villages and towns.  The music of Ethiopia uses a unique system that is known as the modal system.

The modal system, as used in Ethiopia music, is a style of music that has long intervals between notes. This leads to an often unfinished and spontaneous feel to the music that creates an atmosphere of anticipation as to what will come next. The modal system is well suited to the instrument most often used in Ethiopia music, the “krar”. The krar is a five or six stringed lyre type instrument with a pentatonic scale that is used much the sale way as a standard guitar or violin.

Coffee have been a part of culture for over one thousand years. The history of coffee widely varies according to the source due to the length of time as well as the blurring of truth that sometimes occurs.

This is especially true when something as powerful as coffee is involved, as coffees have brought people much wealth and prosperity throughout the history of coffee.

Coffees were discovered around 850 A.D. in the part of Africa now known as Ethiopia. According to one story that has been passed down through the generations, a sheep herder named Kaldi discovered coffee as he tended his sheep. He noted that his sheep became extremely active after eating the red cherries from a plant as they went from one pasture to another.

He ate a few of the cherries himself, and was soon as overactive as his herd. The story goes on to say that a monk passed by and scolded him for "partaking of the devil's fruit." However, the monks soon found themselves eating the same fruit to help them stay awake for their prayers.

Originally, the coffee plant grew naturally in Ethiopia. But once the people of Arabia became enthralled with coffee and transplanted plants to Arabia, coffees were monopolized by them.

Later, countries beyond Arabia whose inhabitants believed coffee to be a delicacy and guarded its secret with the greatest care began to siphon off coffee plants as was possible.

The Arabian government prohibited the transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations, so the actual spread of coffee was started illegally.

In the 17th century, Italian traders introduced coffees to the West and changed the history of coffee forever. Many Christians believed that coffee was the drink of the devil.

But in Italy, Pope Clement VIII drank and endorsed coffee against the advice of his advisors who wanted it to be considered part of the infidel threat. Because of his endorsement of coffee, it became acceptable as a Christian beverage and spread throughout the West.

Coffee Houses began opening in the mid-17th century in the Western world. The first coffee house opened in Italy in 1645, in England in 1652, in Paris in 1672, and in Berlin in 1721.

In 1668, Edward Lloyd's coffee house opened in England and eventually became Lloyd's of London, the best-known insurance company in the world. By this time as well, coffee had replaced beer as New York's City's favorite breakfast beverage.

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Dutch became a prominent force in the coffee industry with a coffee plant smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha. The Dutch cultivated coffee commercially in Ceylon and in their East Indian colony of Java, which came to be the source of coffees' nickname. However, the French stole a seedling and transported it to Martinique.

Fifty years later, an official survey found 19 million coffee trees on Martinique and eventually, it’s estimated that ninety percent of the world's coffee spread from this one seedling.

The Dutch and French monopoly was broken up in 1727 when Brazil entered the fray. Lieutenant colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta was sent by the Brazilian government to arbitrate a border dispute between the French and Dutch colonies in Guiana.

Not only did he settle the disagreement, but he also began an affair with the wife of the governor of French Guiana.

The dear lady bid the lieutenant colonel adieu with a bouquet in which she hid cuttings and fertile seeds of coffees that began the Brazilian portion of the history of coffee. By 1907, Brazil accounted for 97% of the world’s coffee production.

As the Industrial Revolution swept through Europe and the United States, coffees were changed forever.

Hills Bros. became the first company to vacuum pack coffees, changing the coffee industry from a local one to a regional and even national one. Sanka was introduced to the United States as the first decaffeinated coffee. And Nestle learned how to freeze dry coffee and keep it fresher longer.

The most recent changes in the history of coffee has come over the last sixty years. In 1946, the espresso machine was invented in Italy, giving rise to the Cappuccino.

And in 1971, Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place public market. And that ladies and gentlemen is a small and brief history of coffee, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy has more articles on coffee and coffee beans at Ultimate Coffees Info such as Are Coffee Enemas the Real Thing?.

23rd annual Ethiopian soccer tournament comes to the LA Coliseum for a week long get together of Ethiopians and friends for sports and cultural activities. This is the largest event outside of Ethiopia each year. 50,000 - 75,00 expected.

(PRWEB) June 27, 2006 — Every year the Ethiopian Sport Federation of North America (ESFNA) prepares a week long soccer tournament and cultural expo in major US and Canadian cities; now in its 23rd year it is being celebrated at the L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA.

This year around 50,000 Ethiopians are anticipated to attend in Los Angeles with many traveling from all corners of America, Canada, Europe, Israel and even from Ethiopia.

The event was held at the Atlanta Dome in Atlanta, GA last year with Atlanta's Mayor Shirley Franklin in attendance and in 2004 it was held at the Seahawks Stadium in Seattle, WA with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles in attendance.

The event features sports, cultural, culinary and art shows.

About the Organizers (ESFNA and EthioLA3)
Ethiopian Sport Federation of North America (ESFNA) now in its 23rd year holds the largest and most anticipated event by Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia.

ESFNA has 27 soccer teams in division I and II organized by the city in
which they reside, with larger cities such as LA & DC having up to 3 teams due to the large Ethiopian numbers of residents. The games are competitive and even more so this year since they are following right after the 2006 FIFA World Soccer Cup games.

Ethio LA3 is a group comprised of the three ESFNA teams based in Los Angeles. Members of LA Stars, LA Abebe Bekila and LA Dallol are working together to host the ESFNA 2006 in Los Angeles. EthioLA3 has focused to enrich the cultural, culinary and art aspects of the event to draw local non-Ethiopians. Attending is almost like taking a mini-vacation to Ethiopia.

http://ethioLA3.com