/ARTS WEEKLY/ARTS-ETHIOPIA: Singer Raman Blends the Influences of Many Continents

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Sonny Inbaraj

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 10 2004 (IPS) - To someone unaccustomed to the sounds of Ethiopia, the country’s music – with its high-pitched vocals – might sound strange.

But renowned singer Susheela Raman hears this music differently. For her, the melodies are reminiscent of the songs from southern India that she grew up hearing.

“When I was first exposed to Ethiopian music a few years ago I really started to notice something very unusual – something familiar but yet also different,” says the British-born singer of Indian parentage.

“I somehow felt I had an affinity. There was some connection there and I could see some link with Indian music as well,” she told IPS.

What Raman was responding to were ties between Ethiopia and India that extend back to the sixth century, when Islam expanded into the sub-continent.

The new Muslim rulers brought with them slaves from Africa. According to Ronald Segal, the author of “Islam’s Black Slaves”, Ethiopians were particularly favoured.

One of the most famous Ethiopian slaves of all was named Ambar, who rose through the ranks during the sixteenth century to become a legendary military commander and administrator of the Ahmadnagar sultanate in southern India.

According to Segal, Ambar was also noted for his promotion of arts and culture in the sultanate. He is said to have enticed African, Arabian, Persian and Hindu poets and musicians to Ahmadnagar’s capital, Kirkee.

Raman was in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, recently to collaborate with local musicians at the Ethiopian Music Festival – and perform her own compositions, which incorporate a blend of Indian, African and Western beats.

The visit came on the heels of various successes on the awards circuit. Raman’s debut album, “Salt Rain”, was the 2001 winner in the newcomer category for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s World Music Awards. The album was also shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Prize, which marked the first time a world music artist had been nominated for this British award.

Raman’s title track from her latest album, “Love Trap”, is a reworking of a 1970’s hit by Ethiopian singing legend Mahmoud Ahmed.

“I visited Mahmoud Ahmed sometime back and got to listen to his Amarhic language hit single “Bemin Sebeb Litlash” (It’s Not Impossible to Love You). I was mesmerised,” recalls Raman.

Ahmed then translated the whole song for Raman. One line really struck her: “Yefikir Wetmed new Mela hulu Gelash” (Your whole body is a love trap).

“That’s how I made a new version of Mahmoud Ahmed’s song, emphasizing the words “love trap”,” she explains.

Raman was born in London in 1973, but moved to Australia when she was very young. The family settled in Sydney, where she grew up singing classical music from southern India, honouring the Hindu deities, and giving recitals from an early age.

“I was in Sydney during the formative years of my life – from the age of four to the age of 20. Because Australia is far away, there was not much of an Indian community there and so my parents made it a point to keep our south Indian culture alive and strong in our household,” she says.

“That’s why classical Indian music was an important part of growing up, particularly the work of eighteenth century Carnatic songmasters like Tyagaraja and Dikshitar.” (Carnatic music is the name given to the classical music of southern India.)

But, when Raman began performing professionally in Australia, she chose funk and punk music for her stage appearances.

“I was singing with various Sydney punk bands for about four years. But I came to a point where I said to myself I had been singing all this funk and punk for some time and had to go back to my south Indian roots,” she says.

Raman’s turning point came when she went to India in 1995 and studied classical singing under Shruti Sardolikar, a renowned Hindustani vocalist. In 1997, she traveled to Britain and began working with a group of musicians from Europe and Africa.

“There was a lot of emerging music from Africa entering Britain at that time. It was exciting hearing (Senegalese) artists like Youssouf D’Nour and Baaba Maal. I was fascinated and I wanted to be in the UK and be a part of it all,” said Raman, explaining her reasons for leaving Australia.

Now, her sights are also set on Africa: “I’d love to come back to Africa and do a big free concert for all,” she says.

On occasion, Raman closes her performances with a rendition of the traditional Indian devotional hymn “Bolo Bolo”, with Kenyan singer Ayub Ogada playing a small Kenyan harp known as the nyatiti. Midway through the song, Ogada cuts in – singing “Bolo Bolo” in the Luo language. It is a highlight that never fails to move the audience.