Estonian and Ethiopian culture may seem distant from one another, but for Estonian-Canadian art director Linda Turu, the two nations are practically nextdoor neighbours. As she jokingly points out, they are certainly neighbours alphabetically. And as I discovered through her introduction to the music of Girma Woldemichael, the cultural and historical parallels are deep.
Turu’s work with the Toronto-based Ethiopian-Canadian saxophonist reveals a common resilience and story of displacement.
Turu first introduced me to Woldemichael’s work through the visual design of his new album andthe lens of this shared history. She observes that Woldemichael’s life is a classic immigrant story that mirrors what many Estonians experienced. Born into extreme poverty in Ethiopia and raised in an Addis Ababa orphanage, Woldemichael didn’t receive his first pair of shoes until he was thirteen. That same year, he was handed a clarinet and stepped into the golden age of Ethio-jazz. However, the 1974 revolution and the subsequent Red Terror under the Derg regime stifled the music scene. Musicians faced censorship and Woldemichael eventually sought safety abroad. In 1991, while on tour with the Ethio Stars, he defected.
