From Éthiopiques 21: Ethiopia Song, this is Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, one truly bluesy nun of the the Ethiopian Orthodox persuasion.
Blues
[Video] Duo Ras Dashen – The Wonderful Sounds of Ethiopian Music
Singer and saxophonist Abate Berihun and pianist Yitzhak Yedid form the Duo Ras Dashen. It blends Yedid’s masterful jazz piano with the near liturgical singing style of Berihun. I look forward to hearing recorded product from this pairing soon.
[Video] Blind Willie Johnson – Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed
Pure gravel, sounding more like a preacher from down South rather than a typical blues-man, here’s Blind Willie Johnson tearing things up with a type of blues sermon.
[Video] Nurse With Wound – Black Teeth
Avant-garde swamp blues? Well… Not exactly what one expects out of Nurse With Wound, is it?
[Article] Vinyl demand is so high, a record label opened its own factory to keep up

Vinyl’s resurgance is a cause for celebration. I’m even considering investing in an audiophile-quality turntable to enjoy choice slabs of plastic on cold nights like this evening’s (okay, by California standards!).
Endgadget reports that Fat Possum Records has decided to invest in their own plant to satisfy demand. From the article:
Jack White and his Third Man Records imprint aren’t the only ones benefiting from the vinyl boom. Oxford, Mississippi-based Fat Possum Records took matters into its own hands, building a pressing plant to meet the demands of its avid collectors. After using other record makers and encountering issues with backorders and the headache of international shipping, founder Matthew Johnson (with a hand from others) bought used equipment and set up shop in Memphis. The plant is modest compared to other more established operations, but with the new setup, the goal is to crank out 13,000 to 14,000 records a day — plus it’ll keep everything in-house. Fat Possum’s vinyl releases include LPs from Modest Mouse and Waylon Jennings. If you’ll recall, White’s Lazaretto is the best-selling vinyl release in two decades, serving as more evidence that the classic format refuses to die.
These are wonderful days to be a vinyl junkie.
[Video] Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson – Big Bad Wolf
Big thanks to my dear brother, Paolo Merolla, for posting this great R&B sizzler from Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson.
[Video] Franco & O.K. Jazz – On Entre O.K., On Sort K.O.
Welcome back, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve bothered to post anything here due to traveling and work obligations. Time to make this little labor of love a bit more active!
We start out by posting a classic rhumba-and-calypso-influenced tune from what was then the Belgian Congo, then Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of The Congo). The bank, O.K. Jazz, were one of the finest exporters of this type of sound in South-Central Africa, and they gave the world one of the true giants of African music, the guitarist François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, know to his legions of admirers simply as Franco.