Gubiliye from Sheba Sound

Gubiliye features the next release from the legendary Sheba Sound archive, with the highly talented, Habtamu Assefa, taking the lead on vocals on this classic Ethiopian Gojjami traditional dance song. With jubilant, intimate vocals, soaring over a vibrant, throbbing pulse, this song celebrates the best of Ethiopian cultural music, through modern clarity of production.
Recorded in Fenote Selam, in the north of Ethiopia in 2013, overlaid with banjo licks (Cory Seznec) and bass overdubbing. Brought to the UK for mixing and mastering at the infamous Yard Studio by legendary dub producer Nick Manasseh.
The Instrumental version provides a great example of Manasseh’s impeccable live mixing, creating a deep rhythmic pulse of the vocal cut.
Sheba Sound tour the Ethiopian hinterlands, capturing the mesmerising sounds of local talented musicians, using state of the art pop-up recording studios.
Following the success of the flagship comp ‘Out of Addis’ the label powers on to share more of the great music in its archives.
The process was also captured in the highly acclaimed, award-winning documentary: ‘Roaring Abyss, by Quino Piñero: