Hailu Mergia tickets

Hailu Mergia, born in Ethiopia in 1955, is an innovative and influential musician from the Horn of African region. He is a keyboardist, accordionist, and composer, known for blending traditional Amharic melodies and traditional Ethiopian instruments with jazz, funk and ambient music. His style is often described as Ethio-funk. His most successful music was released in Ethiopia in the late 70s and 80s while he was a member of the band Walias. In 1993, he moved to the US, but he continued to write and record music. In 2016 his album ‘Tche Belew’ won a BBC Radio 6 award for World Music Album of the Year and his music has been featured in the films ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ and ‘Queen of Katwe’. Hailu Mergia’s recent work is a mesmerizing combination of jazz, funk and minimalism.