Samuel Yirga is an Ethiopian musician and composer signed to

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

Overview

At the age of 16, Samuel was accepted into

Yared Saint Yared ( Ge'ez: ቅዱስ ያሬድ; 25 April 505 – 20 May 571) was an Aksumite composer in the 6th century. Often credited with the forerunner of traditional music of Ethiopia and Eritrea, he developed the music of the Ethiopian Orth ...

School of Music in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. He was later dismissed for his tendency to experiment and his insistence on playing traditional and contemporary Ethiopian music, instead of adhering to the classical curriculum. His music fuses traditional ''

azmari An Azmari (Amharic: አዝማሪ) is an entertainer who sings and plays traditional string instruments of the Ethiopian Highlands. Its comparable to medieval European minstrels or bard or West African griots. ''Azmari'', who may be either male ...

'' music, Ethio-jazz, dub,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, Latin, and classical music. The title of his debut album, ''Guzo'', means "journey". Featured vocalists include the Creole Choir of Cuba, Iraqi-British singer Mel Gara, and Nigerian-British singer Nicolette. Dubulah (Nick Page) produced the album. Instrumentalists on the album hail from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Samuel is also a member of Dub Colossus and Ethiopian funk band Nubian Arc.

Discography

;Albums * ''Guzo'' - 2012 (

) ; ;Contributing artist * '' The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia'' - 2012 (

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" compet ...

) * Hagere - 2011 (EP, 4 tracks) * The Habesha Sessions - 2011 (6 tracks)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel Yirga Ethiopian musicians Musicians from Addis Ababa Living people Year of birth missing (living people)