Hailu Mergia and The Walias - Tche Belew

10.0 - Ethiopia - 1977

- Masterpiece -

Absolutely bloody fantastic Ethiopian instrumental (more or less) album reissued in 2014 by Awesome Tapes From Africa. An excellent representative of the Ethio-Jazz genre that combined American soul-jazz grooves with Ethiopian tonality. Addis's more famous son, Mulatu Astatke, stops by to provide some guest vibes and a couple of arrangements, but organist-leader Mergia is the centrepiece here. Most of the record is led by Mergia's meandering organ lines while The Walias themselves serve up an indefatigable backing funk. The oft-compiled "Musicawi Silt" is a great example. Set nominally in 3/4 time, the track feels like 4/4: ordinarily the emphasis of 3/4 might be represented thus: | X - - | X - - |, whereas 4/4 might look like this: | X - x - | X - x - |; this track, however, might go like this: | X - x | - X - |. While my rhythmic theory may not quite be fully baked, the result is a deliriously dizzying exercise in towering funk. And that's just one track. Everything else on here is just as (or nearly so) fantastic.