Mahmoud Ahmed
| Mahmoud Ahmed መሀሙድ አህመድ |
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 Mahmoud Ahmed performing in 2005. |
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| Background information | |
| Born | May 8, 1941 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Associated acts | Imperial Body Guard Band, Ibex Band, Venus Band, Walias Band, Idan Raichel Project, Roha Band |
Mahmoud Ahmed (born May 8, 1941) (Amharic: መሀሙድ አህመድ) is an Ethiopian singer of Gurage ancestry.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Addis Ababa, Ahmed shined shoes in that city before becoming a handyman at the Arizona Club, where he first sang professionally in the early 1960s. He sang for the Imperial Body Guard Band until 1974, and recorded with other bands for the Amha and Kaifa record labels throughout the 1970s. In the 1980s, he opened his own music store in Addis Ababa's Piazza district, while he continued his singing career.
In addition to the Imperial Body Guard Band, Ahmed has over the course of his career sung with the Ibex Band, the Venus Band, the Walias Band, the Idan Raichel Project, the Roha Band and the Badume's Band. Since the late 1990s, he has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in Europe and the Americas after Buda Musique launched the Ethiopiques series on compact disc. This led to new recordings and tours in Europe and the United States with Boston's Either/Orchestra and Badume's Band.
In 2007, Ahmed won a BBC World Music Award.[1]
[edit] Selected discography
- Soul of Addis (1997, Earthworks/Stern's Africa STEW35CD)
- Slow Collections (1998, Sounds of Abyssinia SAC-022)
- Live In Paris (1998, Long Distance 302671)
- Ethiopiques Volume 6—Almaz 1973 (1999, Buda Musique 829792 (originally released 1973))
- Ethiopiques Volume 7—Erè Mèla Mèla 1975 (2000, Buda Musique 829802; originally released 1975 and rereleased on Crammed Discs in 1986)
- Yitbarek (2003, Yene Production 77414, rereleased by Nahom Records in 2007)
- Tizita Vol. 1 (The Best of...) (2003, AIT Records AIT-10304)
- Tizita Vol. 2 (The Best of...) (2003, AIT Records AIT-10305)
- Ethiopiques Volume 19—Alèmeyé (2005, Buda Musique 860106)
- Ethiogroove: Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra (2007, EthioSonic DVD)
- Ethiopiques Live: Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete & Badume's Band (2009, Innacor DVD)
[edit] Notes
- ^ "BBC Awards for World Music: Mahmoud Ahmed". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2007/2007_mahmoud_ahmed.shtml. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
[edit] References
- Liner notes. Soul of Addis by Mahmoud Ahmed. Earthworks/Stern's STEW35CD, 1997.
- Falceto, Francis. Liner notes, Ethiopiques Volume 6—Almaz 1973 by Mahmoud Ahmed. Buda Musique 829792, 1999.
