Tche Belew

It has been hugely gratifying to see Ethiopian pianist and keyboard-player Hailu Mergia find a brand new audience this year, playing exciting and fresh arrangements of his compositions in venues around the globe. His take on the Ethiopian tradition is not merely trading on past glories, but pushing it into new territory. For anyone unfamiliar with this work as a player and arranger, this album is the perfect primer. Recorded in 1977 in Ethiopia's Derg era, like Mulatu Astatke's Ethio-jazz experiments, the whole album is solid end to end. ‘Musicawi Silt’ is an absolute belter with a searing horn line, choppy rhythm guitars and a swaying backbeat. Funky barely covers it. Similarly, ‘Eti Gual Blenai’ boasts an outrageous arrangement, blending jazz sections, kebero rhythms and 4/4 grooves. The opener and title-track is also a heavy bubbler, with Mergia displaying his ample improvisational skills over the modal groove. There is little to touch this in the country's musical oeuvre. Originals of this scarce LP fetch silly money, so it's great to have it widely available for the first time since its original release.