Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Adieka Mirissa

Regarded as the mother of Eritrean soul and dubbed the “Sunshine of Eritrea”, Tsehaitu Beraki / ጽሃይቱ በራኺ (also seen as Tsehaytu Beraki or Tsèhaytu Bèraki) was born in Quatit, Italian East Africa – now known as Eritrea – on September 1st, 1939.

Beraki started playing the krar, a five-stringed harp, when she was about eight years old, eventually playing at weddings and parties. She left school at sixteen, and played the krar as her full-time career. She also learned to play kebero and bass-krar. She wrote all of her own music and lyrics, and people would come from as far as Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to record her. From 1964 onwards, her lyrics became more political, and “people were surprised that I dared to sing them”.

Beraki became actively involved in the Eritrean independence struggle in 1977.  She eventually had to leave, moving to Sudan and in 1988, Rotterdam, Netherlands. She returned to Asmara in 1999.

In 2004, Beraki recorded the album Selam that was released by Terp Records in 2004 and reissued by Catalytic Sound in 2016.

Tsehaitu Beraki died on May 24th, 2018 in Rotterdam at the age of 78.

You can find all of the details of the single posted above, including the cover, over at the Eritrean Anthology’s Instagram page.

Catalog number TDA 0020 on Yared of Asmara, Eritrea. Released 1973.

so much groove ❤

Comment by Anonymous November 16, 2023 @ 5:05 am