Hailu Mergia Tickets

When Ethiopian legend Hailu Mergia joins forces with double bassist Mike Majkowski and drummer Tony Buck (The Necks), resistance to their mighty grooves is futile.

While Mergia was a crucial part of Ethiopia’s trailblazing Walias Band in the 1970s,

his move to the United States found him driving a taxi for the next two decades. However, he cut one album in 1985, Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument, an extraordinary fusion of home-grown motifs with synth sounds reminiscent of Kraftwerk. Awesome Tapes from Africa got hold of the cassette in Ethiopia, reissued it in 2013, and Mergia’s star is back in the ascendant.