Hailu Mergia: A Beginner's Guide

Hailu Mergia is a musician treasured and adored by fans of Ethio-jazz globally, but his music almost disappeared before label boss Brian Shimkovitz found an old cassette of his work.

Born in 1946 in the Shewa province of Ethiopia, Mergia learnt to play the accordion by the age of 14 and then became a virtuosic keyboardist. He would absorb the traditional music of his homeland while becoming fascinated by the international sounds of contemporary jazz and funk.

By the mid-1970s, with Ethiopia in the grip of the military junta known as the Derg, Mergia was gigging almost every night. Despite the extraordinarily challenging circumstances, the live music scene in Addis Ababa was booming, with gigs mainly taking place in hotels.

For those who could access it, the Hilton Hotel became somewhat of a refuge from the social and political chaos unfolding across Ethiopia. The Walias Band, led by Mergia, would often play all night, allowing punters to leave after sunrise and not risk being detained as part of the previous evening’s curfew.

Many of the bands at the time had residencies at hotels, with the Walias Band being the house act at the Hilton. It was a challenging time, but Mergia has fond memories of gigging and recording: “We had a really good time back then. We were making home recordings and playing all different kinds of stuff”.

The rigours of playing clubs and hotels almost every night required a huge repertoire and a varied approach. “We would take modern cultural music and traditional melodies and interpret them in our own way”. Audiences began to expect sonic fusions that were both funky and modern, yet rooted in tradition. This emerging blend of Ethio-jazz sounds was something Mergia and The Walias would relish creating. After producing several singles, they released classics such as 1975’s Tezeta and 1977’s Tche Belew.

The practical realities of a gruelling schedule as a live performer drove Mergia’s creativity. “We were playing the clubs every night, and they all expected different music. We studied lots of different styles, so we could play it for people in our own way. The jazz of the time was very big for us”.

Now regarded as a classic of Ethiopian music, Tche Belew was technically recorded just outside the ‘golden era of Ethiopian music’, which is often cited as lasting until 1975, when the Derg’s Red Terror campaign ushered in years of political repression. Despite this, Mergia’s album cut through, delighting fans at home and leading to international tours. It’s not difficult to see why, as the album combines the subtle but complex and ever-evolving organ figures of Mergia with the crystalline vibraphone playing of Mulatu Astatke, fantastic walking basslines, wah-wah guitar and a subtle but muscular rhythm section. Mergia recorded one more album in Ethiopia, 1978’s Wede Harer Guzo, an album that he lands on instantly when asked about personal favourites from his catalogue.

After touring the US in the early 1980s, Mergia opted to settle in Washington, DC, making the city his home ever since. “We were playing a club here and I decided to stay. I formed a band and we started gigging”.

Despite regular gigs, it was difficult for him to make ends meet. “That’s when I started driving taxis, so I had enough to keep me going”, he explains. Now spending much of his time behind the wheel of his taxi, Mergia began making music alone – between fares, he would park up and riff on his instrument, improvising and playing simply for his own enjoyment. For Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument (also known as Shemonmuanaye), a 1985 release with a singular and idiosyncratic sound, he employed a new instrumental arsenal, including a Rhodes piano, a range of synthesizers, his accordion and a drum machine.

The record was a product of circumstance, but it showcased his musical ingenuity and commitment to both cultural tradition and experimentation. The result is an intoxicating recording that sounds like little else. It would ultimately be a tape of this album that would
lead to Hailu’s late career resurgence.

At some point in the 1980s, after His Classical Instrument, Mergia dropped out of the music scene altogether. His work was largely forgotten, apart from by devotees back in Ethiopia. He lights up when talking about the occasional times he was recognised. “Sometimes someone would be in my taxi and ask if I was Hailu Mergia. I’d say yes, and I’d usually play for them”. Life continued much in this way until the mid-2010s, when he was contacted by Brian Shimkovitz.

A devoted fan of African music, Shimkovitz had started a blog called Awesome Tapes From Africa, which later gave rise to a label. A fateful discovery of a cassette of Mergia’s recordings led them both on a journey still ongoing. “He heard the music on a trip and loved it”, recounts Mergia. “He got in touch when he was back in America, and we went from there”. Awesome Tapes From Africa has since reissued Hailu’s classic recordings plus two brand new albums, 2018’s Lala Belu – a record he considers his joint best with Wede Harer Guzo – and 2020’s Yene Mircha.

Now approaching 80, Mergia tours the world to adoring crowds, attracts hundreds of thousands of listeners on streaming platforms each month and has attained the adoration for his role in Ethio-jazz that he always deserved.