Teodros Makonnen - Teodros Makonnen With His Organ

Some recordings herald the future in ways that are impossible to see in real time. Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር), by the artist Teodros Makonnen, also known as Teddy Mak, is one of those. Today, electronic sounds, synthesizers, and digital production are taken for granted in Ethiopian music, but in the early 1980s, they were novelties that polarized opinion.

Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር) is a cornerstone of the early digital sounds of Ethiopian music, originally released on cassette only, and has remained more or less unknown outside of Ethiopia until now. It is a pioneering home recording made in Ethiopia, recorded directly to tape in a single take on a Yamaha double-deck keyboard at the residence of a Saudi Arabian diplomat in Addis Ababa, recasting traditional songs in a wholly electronic style of atmospheric drum machines and hypnotic synth organs, opening new paths for musical dreaming.

Even to this day, the story of Teodros Makonnen's legacy has never been properly told. As a keyboardist, producer, arranger, and sound designer, he helped define the digital sound of Ethiopian music in the 1980s and beyond, collaborating with iconic artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Aster Aweke, and Mahmoud Ahmed, among many others.

Today’s revived global interest in Ethiopian music from the seventies and eighties, alongside a broader resurgence, has changed the reasons for using digital means of music production. They have become tools for musical dreaming. This is where the dreaming began.

Muzikawi is honored to present the first reissue of Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር), released in collaboration with Teodros Makonnen under exclusive license. Out October 2nd, the album has been carefully restored and remastered, and is presented across 2-LPs, pressed at Optimal Media, and housed in a gatefold sleeve replicating the original sleeve artwork, accompanied by extensive liner notes in English and Amharic, as well as previously unpublished photographs from the archives of Teodros’ friend and long-time collaborator Teferi ‘Bibisha’ Mengesha.