Also, check out this Tigrinia Language Tutorial CD-ROM produced by Mulugheta Abraha.

Mulugheta started his musical career early in his life when he joined the struggle for Eritrea's Liberation as a young tegadaly at the age of thirteen and fresh from 7th grade school. At the height of the intense suppression by the occupying Ethiopian forces, many youngsters like Mulugheta had to flee from their homes and join the Liberation forces, where they could get advanced military training in a camp.

It was at these camps that many youngsters learned the skills of survival, self-defense and personal hobbies. Mulugheta recalls his early musical experience at the camp, "If you have a feeling for music, the first thing you learn is to play music before even mastering a Kalishnikov." And thus his musical career kicked off, initially by playing a homemade instrument known as krar, built from "slTania" (an Eritrean-style deep food container). This enabled him to soon become the sole entertainer of his fellow tegadelti. Years later, Mulugheta took the aggressive initiative to learn how to play a box guitar. This effort was successful and landed him an opportunity to work with cultural bands and perform in various parts of the liberated area and the Sudan.

In 1984, Mulugheta went to Holland and pursued his musical career playing lead guitar and keyboard. His unique talent there attracted the attention of several Eritrean musicians. On several occasions, he performed with renowned musicians like Ghideon BeraKi and Ogbay Mesfun in Europe. Furthermore, Mulugheta played all the instruments in Ghideon s CD release, "Tewofainetna," and a previous release, "Gar Nebsi."

In addition to his musical career, Mulugheta was very much dedicated to his academic education. In 1991, he earned a Bachelors degree in Aeronautics Engineering, and in 1996, he moved to the United States as a new-recruit by Boeing into the Seattle area. While working full-time there, Mulugheta continued his musical journey and preformed exciting shows on several occasions.

His solo instrumental CD debut, "Classical Tgrigna Songs," is indeed unique in that it offers not only a smooth style of jazz, but brings a sweet and nostalgic memory to many who recognize most of the melodies. But why oldies? Mulugheta replies, "I believe that old Eritrean songs are so lovely that we need to document them in a better medium than just preserving the old cassettes, assuming they still exist, with poor sound quality."

Mulugheta speaks of the old Eritrean songs as "engraved in my mind since I left Asmara in 1977," and continues to say that the cuts on his new release are "the musical expression of my love for Asmara and childhood." Related to childhood, Mulugheta is presently the proud father of three lovely daughters, and credits them and his wife as the main inspiration for his success in releasing this CD. Please send us your feedback on this CD to Feedback via e-mail.