An Azmari (
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: አዝማሪ) is an entertainer who sings and plays traditional
string instruments
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...
of the
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...
. Its comparable to medieval European
minstrels or
bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise ...
or West African
griots
A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
The griot is a repos ...
.
''Azmari'', who may be either male or female, are skilled at singing extemporized verses, accompanying themselves on either a ''
masenqo
The
Masenqo ( am, ማሲንቆ; Tigrinya: ጭራ-ዋጣ (ዋጣ) is a single-stringed bowed lute commonly found in the musical traditions of Ethiopia. As with the krar, this instrument is used by Ethiopian minstrels called ''azmaris'' ("sing ...
'' (one-stringed fiddle) or ''
krar'' (lyre).
Etymology
Azmari means (''to sing'' or ''singer'') in
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
.
Amharas
Amharas ( am, አማራ, Āmara; gez, ዐምሐራ, ʾÄməḥära) are a Ethiopian Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Ethiopian Highlands, Highlands ...
tend to call all musicians Azmari simply because there's no other word in the language denoting a person who plays a musical instrument.
History
The earliest documented mention of the ''Azmaris'' goes back to the mid-15th century, and they presumably go back much further.
Role in society
''Azmaris'' once played an important role as social critics by improvising sophisticated texts of praise or criticism. ''Azmaris'' would mock people in high places, and even Emperors were not spared if they were found to be unpopular with the public. ''Azmaris'' were the first to convey scandals in high places.
Female ''Azmaris'' flourished in feudal Ethiopia. They were just like their male counterparts poet-musicians. The female musicians are usually wives or lovers of male ''Azmaris'' who gradually learned the repertory of their male counterparts.
Between 1841-1843, the English traveller Major
William Cornwallis Harris
Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris (baptised 2 April 1807 – died 9 October 1848) was an English military engineer, artist and hunter.
Life and career Early life
The son of James Harris of Wittersham, Kent, he entered Addiscombe Militar ...
captured the prevailing political atmosphere and attitudes of
Sahle Selassie's court towards his enemies in a song of praise played by one of his female chorist (azmari).
Today
''Azmaris'' have continued perform in various settings ranging from wedding ceremonies, to hotels, and in drinking establishments called ''tejbeit'', which specialise in the serving of ''
tej
Tej (from pronounced ; ; ) is a honey wine, like mead, that is brewed and consumed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has an alcohol content generally ranging from 7 to 11%. It is often home processed and consists of three main ingredients; honey, wate ...
'' (mead). The ''Azmaris'' introduced the popular
Tizita
Tizita/Tezeta/tazata ( am, ትዝታ; en, memory, "nostalgia" or "longing") is one of the Pentatonic scales or Qañat of the Amhara ethnic group.
Etymology and origin
The term ''tizita'' is distinctly Amharic, there's no Geez equivalent, ...
ballad form.
Notable Azmari
*
Asnaketch Worku
Asnaketch Worku () (born 1935 – 14 September 2011) was an Ethiopian singer who sang in the Amharic language and a '' krar'' instrumentalist, the instrument which symbolized her fame during the 1960s and 1970's. Asnaketch also had a long dist ...
*
Bahru Kegne
*
Eténèsh Wassié
Eténèsh Wassié (born 1971) is an Ethiopian jazz singer, renowned for her collaborative approach to music and performance.
Biography
Wassié was born in 1971 in Gondar to an Ethiopian Orthodox family. She began performing in the 1990s in Add ...
*
Weres Egeziaber
References
See also
*
Ethiopian music
Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.
The music of the Ethiopian Hi ...
Ethiopian music
Occupations in music
{{Ethiopia-stub