Hailu Mergia & the Walias: Tche Belew [AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA]

Why you'll love it

This Awesome Tapes From Africa reissue comes with a download code and a colour insert of photos. Tche Belew is a rare instrumental album from Ethiopia's golden age, and it includes "Musicawi Silt," which the label calls the most popular Ethiopian tune.

This edition

• Download card included
• Photo insert

About the album

In 1970s Addis Ababa, the singer was usually the star and the band stood at the back. Keyboardist and accordionist Hailu Mergia turned that around. His Walias Band held a long residency at the city's Hilton, played the presidential palace twice, and in 1977 made a record where the instruments do all the talking.

Recorded in the years after the 1974 revolution, when censors kept a close eye on lyrics, Tche Belew lets Mergia's keyboards and the band's tight, polyrhythmic groove carry the melodies. Mergia's playing turns old folk tunes into something funky and modern, influenced by the likes of King Curtis and Junior Walker. The title track sets a loping groove, "Musicawi Silt" is the tune every Ethiopian band knows, and "Lomi Tera-tera" and "Birtukane" keep the dance floor busy.

Awesome Tapes From Africa brought it back in 2014, and Mergia, by then living in Washington, D.C., found a whole new audience. Original copies have gone for more than $4,000 at auction. This one costs rather less, and the grooves are every bit as funky.

Also at Kops: more Hailu Mergia on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Awesome Tapes From Africa (cat# ATFA012), a reissue of the 1977 album.