A musical legend right here in our midst. When Music Africa recently discovered that Ali Birraa was living in Toronto, they did what any organization dedicated to promoting African music would do: they promptly gave the singer an Award of Merit. A pioneer of Ethiopian music’s golden age in the ’70s, when funky orchestras with big brass and soulful singers ruled the Horn of Africa, Birraa has lived a charmed life. Recruited by Emperor Haile Selassie’s Imperial Bodyguard Band at the age of 18, he sang for kings, presidents and visiting dignitaries at the palace in Addis Ababa. His first hit, 1967’s “Jiruu Tiyya Cufaa (I Never Held Back My Love),” launched a solo career that saw his seven...
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