HAILU MERGIA – Yene Mircha

It has been a long, winding road that now leads Hailu Mergia into his sixth decade as a musician. From a young musician in the 60s in Addis Ababa, through the golden age of dance bands in the 70s and new hope as an emigrant in America, to the drier times of the 90s and 2000s when he mainly played keyboards in his taxi while queuing at the airport or meeting friends at home. More recently, Mergia has seen a reassessment of its place in Ethiopian music history with the re-edition of its classics. Mergia has played to audiences large and small in some of the world’s most popular venues over the past few years. With his critically acclaimed breakthrough comeback album “Lala Belu” in 2018, Mergia cemented his legacy by self-producing the album and presenting his audience with the tremendous creative power of his version of modern Ethiopian music. His subsequent performances showed an artist who is in no way caught up in nostalgia for the sound of the “golden age”. The press is enthusiastic about Mergia’s modern musical approach. The New York Times, the BBC and Pitchfork have praised his music. The latter describe his music as “triumphantly in the present” in their list of the 200 best albums of the 2010s. Mergia’s new album “Yene Mircha” (“My Choice” in Amharic) encapsulates many of the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer unique. The core of the trio, with whom he has recently toured the world, consists of Washington DC-based Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), around whom an expanded band provides a powerful response to the ‘Lala Belu ” promised future of contemporary jazz. “Yene Mircha” brings together Mergia’s fertile stream of creativity with his philosophy that there is a multitude of approaches to Ethiopian music, not just a single sound. With the help of mesenqo (a traditional stringed instrument) master Setegn Atenaw, acclaimed singer Tsehay Kassa and legendary saxophonist Moges Habte from his 70’s combo WALIAS BAND, Mergia expands its line-up. In addition to Mergia’s original compositions, the album also features songs by Asnakesh Worku and Teddy Afro.

• 1.1
  SEMEN ENA DEBUB
• 1.2
  YENE MIRCHA
• 1.3
  BAYNE LAY YIHEDAL
• 1.4
  ABICHU NEGA NEGA
• 1.5
  YENE ABEBA
• 1.6
  SHEMENDEFER