No relation to Adrian

August 31, 2015 7:13 AM

Tche Belew is a 1977 album by Hailu Mergia and the Walias that was out of print until late last year. It sounds like Jimmy Smith Goes to Ethopia. The album was released a few years into the Derg regime, which ousted Haile Selassie I. Not too long ago, Hailu was driving a cab in DC but is now back on tour, reportedly.
posted by about_time (5 comments total)

Wonderful! Thank you!
posted by mondo dentro at 7:18 AM on August 31, 2015

Good music, but the comparison to Jimmy Smith seems specious, other than that both men could be categorized broadly as "jazz organists." Mergia's style is very different from Smith's, and he's not even playing a Hammond organ.

Mergia is pictured on the album cover with what looks like a Yamaha YC-30 (combo organ from the turn of the 1970s) and, the reference to a Farfisa in the Wondering Sound article notwithstanding, it sounds like the YC-30 is what he used on the album.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 8:00 AM on August 31, 2015

Oooh...hell yeah. Been playing this since it was relreleased...Of everything I listened to on the Ethiopiques albums the Walias band was what I was looking out for. Excellent recommendation.
posted by brainimplant at 8:17 AM on August 31, 2015

Cool...a while back I took a splurge on a reissue of Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument and it turned out a double album of nothing but accordion solos over simple drum machines & synth loops was exactly what I needed.
posted by anazgnos at 9:17 AM on August 31, 2015

Great stuff, thanks! The sample of Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument on Soundcloud really reminds me of Woubeshet Feseha's 1976 (especially the very first bit on soundcloud cf. 1976 track 5). Desert Disco FTMFW.
posted by ZipRibbons at 1:23 PM on August 31, 2015