poets-from-eritrea

"My aunt once told us that five krars had been made in Port Sudan; one stayed there, one was sent to Egypt and my aunt brought three to Asmara. One for the legend Ato Berhane Segid, one for Hollanda, the daughter of Halima Konti, and the third on my aunt kept for herself and stored it above the cupboard in our home. My niece Meeraf was very tall and we always asked her to get the krar down for us. So she would fetch the instrument and also she knew how to tune it and all the kids at home would play on it one by one"

"My favourite song is Freweini. It is a song about Eritrea, but it also tells about a mother. Love is always loved, one doesn’t forget it. But love for one country is incomparable. A mother and your own country is basically the same."

"But by 1973, the political situation got worse. People didn’t feel safe anymore, they felt uneasy and scared. These were difficult times in Asmara."

"I admire Tsehaytu not only because of her songs but also for the important role she played in the national struggle. I am beyond words to describe the beauty of her voice in spite of her age."

"At the time Tsehaytu played music on her own, though she was a woman. On her own she was equal to any band. This has earned her a good name up to this moment. She was courageous and disliked slavishness and did not bow down to anyone. She sang many traditional, love and nationalist songs.Said Jaber Mahmoud"

"I found Tsehaytu by coincidence in Rotterdam, Holland, discouraged and not playing much anymore. I build her a new krar and after some practice sessions, we decided to record the CD together. There isn¹t really much Eritrean music recorded, from those days."