Hailu Mergia- Tezeta

Tezeta is the impossibly rare collection of recordings made by Hailu Mergia and his group The Walias Band who held residency at the Hilton hotel in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa in the early 70s. Sourced by the saintly Awesome Tapes From Africa, this new record showcases the pioneering classical instrumental sounds used then mostly as background audio for television and entertainment that would transcend the mundane and come to define and inspire the shape of Ethiopian jazz for generations ahead with its cool rhythms and warm, flyaway organ melodies.

Purchase Hailu Mergia’s new album Tezeta out now via Awesome Tapes From Africa.