ሶስና ገብረኢየሱስ
Sosena Gebre Eyesus by Rene Passet, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
This is a special one. I love a lot about NTS and their mission:
Home to two live radio channels broadcasting 24/7 and hundreds of thousands of hours of human-curated shows, NTS is one of the world’s most revered music archives. This ever-expanding resource is made possible by a network of artists and DJs who broadcast from over 80 countries – all without on-air advertising. Beyond online radio, we help our listeners fall in love with music through special broadcasts, international events, and original video content.
Part of their original video content are live sessions, like this one:
Ethiopian artist ሶስና ገብረኢየሱስ Sosena Gebre Eyesus performs traditional Ethiopian Orthodox mezmurs (hymns), sung alongside the gently buzzing, trance-inducing sound of the begena, an instrument also known as the Harp of David. Recorded live at the NTS Studio.
I have never heard about the instrument called begena before, but it is truly entrancing. I would love to hear it in other contexts as well!