Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha '2020

Tracks list

Ethio-jazz keyboard wizard Hailu Mergia weaves his magic in a crisply modernist
but dubbed-out style on follow-up to ‘Lala Belu’, deepening his
partnership with Awesome Tapes From Africa, who brought his 40 years of
recordings to overdue international acclaim since nearly a decade ago.

From a young musician in the 60s starting out in Addis Ababa to the 70s golden
age of dance bands to the new hope as an emigre in America to the drier period
of the 90s and 2000s when he mainly played keyboard in his taxi while waiting in
the airport queue or at home with friends. More recently, with reissue of his
classic works and a re-assessment of his role in Ethiopian music history, Mergia
has played to audiences big and small in some of the most cherished venues
around the world. With 2018s critical breakthrough Lala Belu Mergia championed
himself and consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and
connecting with listeners through the sheer creative power of his version of
modern Ethiopian music. His subsequent performances revealed an artist who is in
no way stuck in the nostalgia for the “golden age” sound. The press
agreed, including the New York Times, BBC and Pitchfork, calling his music
“triumphantly in the present” in its Best 200 Albums of the 2010s
list. Mergias new album Yene Mircha (My Choice in Amharic) encapsulates many of
the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer-arranger
remarkable—elements that have persisted to maintain his vitality all
these years, through the ebb and flow of his career.

The rock solid trio with whom he has toured the world most recently, DC-based
Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), forms the nucleus around which
an expanded band makes a potent response to the contemporary jazz future Lala
Belu promised. Yene Mircha calcifies Mergias prolific stream of creativity and
his philosophy that there is a multitude of Ethiopian musical approaches, not
just one sound. Enlisting the help of master mesenqo (traditional stringed
instrument) player Setegn Atenaw, celebrated vocalist Tsehay Kassa and legendary
saxophone player Moges Habte from his 70s outfit Walias Band, Mergia enhances
his bright, electric band on this recording with an expanded line up on some
songs. Mergia produced the album which features several of his original
compositions along with songs by Asnakesh Worku and Teddy Afro.

An artist still reinventing his sound every night on stage during his marathon
live sets, this 74 year-old icon refuses to make the same album twice. The album
feels as urgent and risky as his concerts can be, pushing the band to the outer
limits of group improvisation and back with chord extensions during his
exploratory solos. Yene Mircha captures this live experience and fosters an
expansive view of what else could be in store for this tireless practitioner of
Ethiopian music. 

Tracklist:
01. Hailu Mergia - Semen Ena Debub (6:02)
02. Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha (4:42)
03. Hailu Mergia - Bayne Lay Yihedal (5:10)
04. Hailu Mergia - Abichu Nega Nega (5:41)
05. Hailu Mergia - Yene Abeba (6:35)
06. Hailu Mergia - Shemendefer (6:27)

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