HAILU MERGIA @ Gretchen Yard // OUTDOOR

In the organizer's words:

Hailu Mergia: Modern, tradition-conscious and cosmopolitan jazz, combined with diverse Ethiopian styles.

Hailu Mergia is a composer, arranger, keyboardist, master accordionist and an Ethiopian jazz and funk legend. As bandleader of the very popular "Walias Band", founded in Addis Ababa in the 1970s, he developed his own interpretation of contemporary Ethiopian music early on. His fusion of jazz and funk with the diversity of Ethiopian styles cannot be reduced to a simple formula. The band emigrated to the USA in the early 1980s and disbanded shortly afterwards. Hailu Mergia played a few more concerts, but gradually withdrew from the stage. He eventually worked as a cab driver at Washington Dulles Airport and continued to practice on his keyboard in the back seat of his car during breaks.

His first solo album "Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instruments", released in 1985, recorded and produced entirely on his own and released on cassette in Ethiopia, was reissued in 2013 via Awesome Tapes from Africa. This marked the beginning of his comeback. He started writing new songs and in 2018 his album "La Belu" followed, featured by the New York Times, the Guardian and Pitchfork, among others. Since then, Mergia has regularly toured Europe and played with his trio across North America, including at Radio City Music Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Hailu Mergia was our guest two years ago with his album "Yene Mircha" and we are very much looking forward to seeing him again. His performances are intimate and explosive at the same time and always something special, because Hailu Mergia refuses to do the same thing twice and reinvents his sound every night on stage. In the studio, he starts recording with a core band and adds sounds and instruments through a long process of listening, a creative process that is as urgent and exciting as his concerts, where he pushes the band to the limits of group improvisation.

We offer discounted tickets for this event to give people with smaller wallets access to culture. These contingents are limited and only available at TixforGigs. We trust in your self-assessment: If you can, book standard tickets and leave the discounted contingents to those who need to save a lot right now.