Eden Girma is a multi-instrumental musician, vocalist, producer, and composer hailing from Madison, WI. Having grown up at the nexus of widely varying and vibrant musical traditions, Eden creates through a variety of audio-visual-technological media — bridging realms such as popular music, improvisatory collaboration, expressionism, and experimental electronics. Through a genre-bending compositional ear and a poetic lyricism, they aspire to create art that not only resonates with individual hearts, but brings people closer together in a spirit of intimacy and empathy.
Hi everyone! My name is Eden Girma, I’m a musician, vocalist, and composer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. In my playlist, I thought to take you through a little journey of some incredible artists that have guided my exploration of voice since I was very young. I feel that through their music, they have taught me so much about the power that a voice can carry, and offer a kind of vocal template that I love returning to in my own study and practice. I hope that you enjoy and are even inspired to sing out loud somewhere sometime soon.
“The Train” by Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin is someone I consistently revisit when I need a reminder of what freedom in voice sounds like. He approaches his use of voice and body as a whole with such a vibrant and independent spirit — truly one of the most legendary models for the dedication, imagination, and discipline needed to flesh out the highest potential of one’s voice.
“Gud Fella” by Gigi
I cannot overstate how much of an icon Gigi is in both my musical world and the world of contemporary Ethiopian music. She has the masterful dexterity and musical sensibility that only the greatest of Ethiopian vocalists have, with the boldness of vision that allowed her to extend beyond traditional Ethiopian pop.
“Biko” by Sweet Honey in the Rock
I first heard Sweet Honey in the Rock as a middle schooler in choir. They were one of the first to teach me what it truly meant to sing with power and conviction — what it meant for my voice to be a vessel for liberation. They are the template for a voice rooted not only in confidence of self, but in a fierce love of community and ancestry, and in an unflinching facing of history.
“A Quiet Place” (Live) by Take 6
I will never not be obsessed with Take 6. Hearing Take 6 for the first time felt like the most brilliant, most colorful explosion in my harmonic landscape and I haven’t recovered since. To me, each of their songs and live recordings are a masterclass in how to compose with expansive soul, and how to listen to others with breathtaking precision.
“Amarilli, mia bella” (Live) by Guilio Caccini, Performed by Cecilia Bartoli
In early high school I was tasked to learn this Italian art song, and came across this video of Cecilia Bartoli. Thus began my love affair with early music and borderline worship of her as a singer. Bartoli is mesmerizing in every facet: her vocal prowess and searing expressionism are inimitable and forever an inspiration.
“Over the Rainbow” by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, Performed by Lorez Alexandria
I had never heard of Lorez Alexandria until college, when a friend introduced me to this record. Her pacing, her masterful patience in timing and sensitivity of expression, still makes me weak in the knees and teaches me something new whenever I listen to her.
“Lush Live” (Live) by Billy Strayhorn
Hear me out…no one can ever sing “Lush Life” like Billy Strayhorn. No one!!! Strayhorn reminds me of the beautiful emotional space of intimacy that writing a song creates, and how songs can only transcend beyond you if you whole-heartedly break that space open to the world. I love this recording for the irreplicable pathos only he could reflect through his voice: what his voice and composition carries of his experience.
“Before The World Was Big” (Live) by Girlpool
Girlpool came out with their debut album in 2015, and for me it was a revelation in songwriting and lyricism. The way in which they musically dance around each other, and move in and out of sync with their voices (a vocal matching out of this world!) left an immense impression on me that still resonates in my creative heart and composing today.
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