Sunday June 4th
Konzeptlos presents: Hailu Mergia *live* (Ethiopia / USA)
Afterparty: AKIWAWA with special guest DJ Cassawarrior (Australia), DJ Pun & Rainer
21h doors, 22h concert
Kaschemme Basel, Lehenmattstrasse 353, 4052 Basel (Switzerland)
The
keyboardist Hailu Mergia was a major star in 1970es Ethiopia, presiding
over the country‘s leading instrumental ensemble Walias Band, which
worked restlessly on the Addis Ababa hotel circuit and jamming with
luminaries like Duke Ellington and Manu Dibango. In 1981 a good part of
Walias including Hailu used the first ever US tour of an Ethiopian music
group to escape the dictatorial Mengistu regime. Since then Hailu has
been a resident of the Was- hington DC area, spending most of his recent
years as a cab driver at the capital‘s Dulles Airport and playing only
privately.
Brian Shimkovitz, operator of the acclaimed
blog-turned-record label Awesome Tapes From Africa, who came across
„Hailu Mergia & His Classical
Instrument“, a somehow obscure 1985 cassette, in a music store in
Ethiopia, tracked down the old maestro and reissued it. On the back of
Shimkovitz‘ reissue, Hailu started to play live again in 2013, exploring
the deep, liquid and hypnotic qualities of his music, while not
forgetting to throw in some hefty bits of funk now and then. In May 2017
Hailu will for the first time make his „American“ band tour Europe,
which in fact features the Ethiopian bass wizard Alemseged Kebede and
the Trinidadian master drummer Kenneth „Ken“ Joseph.
DJ Cassawarrior
is an African music pilgrim who regularly travels ‘the continent’ in
search of the finest in rare vinyl gems. His penchant for Congolese
Rhumba, West African Funk & Highlife, Sudanese Music and African
Coastal sounds is only surpassed by his passion for 'Golden Era' Ethiopian music.
His collection of Ethiopian and Eritrean discs is second to none and
rate among some of the most rare and sought after vinyls on the planet.
His love affair of the sounds from ‘the Horn of Africa’ was initiated
while playing bass guitar and touring with Ethiopian music great Mulatu Astatke, and later with Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete. Cassawarrior is also a DJ regular at Glastonbury Festival, as well as being a radio presenter with Australia's premiere independent radio station PBS 106.7 fm.
FB-Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/748875448610825/
www.kaschemme.ch / www.konzeptlos.org / www.akiwawa.org
Konzeptlos presents: Hailu Mergia *live* (Ethiopia / USA)
Afterparty: AKIWAWA with special guest DJ Cassawarrior (Australia), DJ Pun & Rainer
21h doors, 22h concert
Kaschemme Basel, Lehenmattstrasse 353, 4052 Basel (Switzerland)
The
keyboardist Hailu Mergia was a major star in 1970es Ethiopia, presiding
over the country‘s leading instrumental ensemble Walias Band, which
worked restlessly on the Addis Ababa hotel circuit and jamming with
luminaries like Duke Ellington and Manu Dibango. In 1981 a good part of
Walias including Hailu used the first ever US tour of an Ethiopian music
group to escape the dictatorial Mengistu regime. Since then Hailu has
been a resident of the Was- hington DC area, spending most of his recent
years as a cab driver at the capital‘s Dulles Airport and playing only
privately.
Brian Shimkovitz, operator of the acclaimed
blog-turned-record label Awesome Tapes From Africa, who came across
„Hailu Mergia & His Classical
Instrument“, a somehow obscure 1985 cassette, in a music store in
Ethiopia, tracked down the old maestro and reissued it. On the back of
Shimkovitz‘ reissue, Hailu started to play live again in 2013, exploring
the deep, liquid and hypnotic qualities of his music, while not
forgetting to throw in some hefty bits of funk now and then. In May 2017
Hailu will for the first time make his „American“ band tour Europe,
which in fact features the Ethiopian bass wizard Alemseged Kebede and
the Trinidadian master drummer Kenneth „Ken“ Joseph.
DJ Cassawarrior
is an African music pilgrim who regularly travels ‘the continent’ in
search of the finest in rare vinyl gems. His penchant for Congolese
Rhumba, West African Funk & Highlife, Sudanese Music and African
Coastal sounds is only surpassed by his passion for 'Golden Era' Ethiopian music.
His collection of Ethiopian and Eritrean discs is second to none and
rate among some of the most rare and sought after vinyls on the planet.
His love affair of the sounds from ‘the Horn of Africa’ was initiated
while playing bass guitar and touring with Ethiopian music great Mulatu Astatke, and later with Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete. Cassawarrior is also a DJ regular at Glastonbury Festival, as well as being a radio presenter with Australia's premiere independent radio station PBS 106.7 fm.
FB-Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/748875448610825/
www.kaschemme.ch / www.konzeptlos.org / www.akiwawa.org
