Aster

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Aster Aweke's Western debut followed hit cassettes in Ethiopia and a sold-out run at Ronnie Scott's in London, and it presents her Amharic singing over horn charts and the traditional lament 'Tizita (Memories)', accompanied only by oud. Columbia's American edition promoted her as an Ethiopian soul singer, but the record's pentatonic melodies remained rooted in the Addis Ababa tradition she had left in exile.