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.

It could only happen in Ethiopia.

Yvonne Chaka Chaka, the Princess of Africa, sings a song by Miriam Makeba, Mama Africa, under a fig tree in the village of Dukem Kotecha, an hour's drive along unmade roads outside Debre Zeit. South African music isn't huge in Ethiopia. But everyone seemed to know the words, or at least the tune.

It all happened over the weekend during a huge government-run, UN/NGO-supported distribution of malaria nets in the region. (The blue thing that the man is holding in the background is an insecticide-treated net.) Malaria transmission season is coming on quickly - it normally peaks in October/November and can kill 100,000 in a matter of months during an epidemic.

In case you are wondering how this all fits together, Yvonne Chaka Chaka is UNICEF's regional spokesperson on malaria.

Original post by aheavens

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