- Artist
- Display Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Souvenirs
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI201DIGITAL
- Release Date
- February 23, 2024
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Vinyl 1×LP
$30.99Read MoreMRI201LP
- Gold cover first edition
- 16-page full-colour booklet
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CD
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$8.49320 kbps, LAME-encoded
Press Release
“Crows of the sky, please tell me What is found above the clouds? Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, “Tell Me”.
The first vocal album by beloved Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - profound and deeply moving home cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil. These are songs of wisdom, loss, mourning, and exile, sung directly into a boombox and accompanied by Emahoy’s unmistakable piano. Though written and recorded while still living at her family’s home in Addis Ababa, Emahoy sings of the heartache of being far from home, a reflection on the 1974 revolution and Red Terror in Ethiopia, and a presentiment of her future exile in Jerusalem.
In the 21st century, Emahoy has become known worldwide for her utterly unique melodic and rhythmic style. Commonly misinterpreted as “jazzy” or “honky tonk,” Emahoy’s music actually comes from a deep engagement with the Western classical tradition, mixed with her background in Ethiopian traditional and Orthodox music.
These songs, recorded between 1977-1985, are different from anything previously released by the artist. Rich with the sound of birds outside the window, the creak of the piano bench, the thump of Emahoy’s finger on the record button, they create a sense of place, of being near the artist while she records.
Emahoy’s lyrics, sung in Amharic, are poetic and heavy with the weight of exile. “When I looked out / past the clouds / I couldn’t see my country’s sky / Have I really gone so far?” she asks in “Is It Sunny or Cloudy in the Land You Live?” Her vocals are delicate and heartfelt, tracing the melodic contours of her piano on songs like “Where Is the Highway of Thought?”
“Tenkou! Why Feel Sorry?,” a career highlight that closes out her self-titled Mississippi album (MRP-099), is revisited here with vocals. Originally composed for her niece, Tenkou, the lyrics clarify the song title we’ve wondered about for so many years. “Don’t cry / Childhood won’t come back / Let it go with love.” Emahoy dreamt of releasing this music to a larger audience before her passing in March of 2023. We are proud to release this music, in collaboration with her family, now, in what would have been her 100th year.
Digital Tracklist
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1
Clouds Moving on the Sky
5:10
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Clouds Moving on the Sky
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2
Ready to Leave
3:28
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Ready to Leave
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$1.99 -
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$1.35
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3
Is It Sunny or Cloudy in the Land You Live?
5:07
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Is It Sunny or Cloudy in the Land You Live?
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$1.99 -
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$1.35
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4
Tenkou! Why Feel Sorry?
4:03
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Tenkou! Why Feel Sorry?
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5
Ethiopia My Motherland
5:07
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Ethiopia My Motherland
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$1.99 -
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$1.35
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6
Where Is the Highway of Thought?
3:57
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Where Is the Highway of Thought?
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7
Don’t Forget Your Country
3:31
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Don’t Forget Your Country
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8
Like the Sun Shines on Meadows
5:51
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Like the Sun Shines on Meadows
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Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
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- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Ready to Leave
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI201DIG2
- Release Date
- January 23, 2024
- Download
-
- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Clouds Moving on the Sky
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI201DIG1
- Release Date
- December 12, 2023
- Download
-
- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Quand La Mer Furieuse
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI200DIG3
- Release Date
- March 6, 2023
- Download
-
- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Jerusalem
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI200DIGITAL
- Release Date
- December 9, 2022
- LP
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- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Jerusalem
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI200DIG1
- Release Date
- November 15, 2022
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-
- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRP099DIGITAL
- Release Date
- September 16, 2016
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-
- Artist
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
- ReleaseProduct
- Spielt Eigen Kompositionen
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRP025DIGITAL
- Release Date
- June 1, 2012
- Download
Mississippi Records
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Pre-order
- Artist
- Sheida Gharachedaghi & Mohammad Reza Aslani
- ReleaseProduct
- Chess of the Wind
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI207DIGITAL
- Release Date
- June 14, 2024
- Download
-
- Artist
- Sheida Gharachedaghi & Mohammad Reza Aslani
- ReleaseProduct
- Hope Arises from Despair
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI207DIG1
- Release Date
- April 16, 2024
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- Artist
- Rail Band
- ReleaseProduct
- Rail Band
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI206DIGITAL
- Release Date
- April 5, 2024
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- Artist
- Rail Band
- ReleaseProduct
- Duga
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI206DIG2
- Release Date
- March 5, 2024
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- Artist
- Rail Band
- ReleaseProduct
- Marabayasa
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI206DIG1
- Release Date
- February 6, 2024
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- Artist
- Dead Moon
- ReleaseProduct
- Going South
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRP06DIGITAL
- Release Date
- November 24, 2023
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-
- Artist
- Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff
- ReleaseProduct
- Magg Tekki
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI203DIGITAL1
- Release Date
- November 10, 2023
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-
- Artist
- Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff
- ReleaseProduct
- La Musique Du Cœur
- Label
- Mississippi Records
- Catalogue Number
- MRI203DIG2
- Release Date
- October 9, 2023
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