Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha [vinyl]

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Hailu Mergia. The man is such a joy to work with, to be perfectly honest and earnest. His work is inspiring to me, but also his attitude. He knows what he’s about and he makes his way through the world in a confident but unassuming manner. And he absolutely gives it his all onstage, all over the world, all the time, most likely every time.

The past two years Hailu Mergia pranced across the global from festival to club to theater, performing songs from his Lala Belu album, which blew up throughout 2018. It was this first new album in over a decade.

Now he is already releasing his next new recording, Yene Mircha, produced by Mergia this time in DC with his trio there, along with a whole bunch of guests. There are horns and vocals and mesenqo and guitar in the mix. Beautiful cover photo by Ian GC White.



1. ሰሜን እና ደቡብ
Semen Ena Debub
North & South
(Hailu Mergia)

2. የኔ ምርጫ
Yene Mircha
My Choice
(Hailu Mergia)

3. ባይኔ ላይ ይሄዳል
Bayine Lay Yihedal
He Walks In My Vision
(Asnakech Worku)

4. አቢቹ ነጋ ነጋ
Abichu Nega Nega
How Are You, Abichu
(trad., arr. Hailu Mergia)

5. የኔ አበባ
Yene Abeba
My Flower
(Hailu Mergia)

6. ሼመንደፈር
Shemendefer
Chemin de Fer Railway
(Teddy Afro)


It's been a long, winding road to Hailu Mergia's sixth decade of musical activity. 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 the 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 his 2018 critical breakthrough "Lala Belu" Mergia consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and connecting with listeners through his vision of modern Ethiopian music. Extensive touring after the record 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 2010's list.

Mergia's 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 Mergia's 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. His creative process in the studio—starting with the core band, then after listening extensively over weeks and months adding more sounds and instruments—is 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.
 

released March 27, 2020

Hailu Mergia — Keyboards, Accordion, Melodica, Vocals 

Kenneth Joseph — Drums
Alemseged Kebede — Bass Guitar


Semen Ena Debub: Setegn Atenaw, mesenqo; Abraham Rezene Habte, guitar 

Yene Mircha: Moges Habte, saxophone; Ben Hall, trombone; Mike Ault, guitar

Abichu Nega Nega: Tsehay Kassa, vocals

Shemendefer: Mike Ault, guitar; Tsehay Kassa, vocals

Produced by Hailu Mergia

Recorded at Cue Recording Studios, Falls Church, VA by Blaine Misner

Mastered By Jessica Thompson

Photos by Ian G.C. White, Bern 2019

Back image drawn live on iPad by Jenny Soep, Stockholm 2018