Hailu Mergia - trad./ Abichu nega nega (Live @TivoliVredenburg Utrecht)

Hailu Mergia - keys, Alemseged Kebede-Anissa - electric bass, Kenneth Courtney Joseph - drums perform the Ethiopean traditional Abichu nega nega.

Hailu Mergia was a legendary Ethiopian keys-virtuoso. He moved to the US, Washington DC, but his band split up and Hailu was forced to drive a taxi. He never stopped prectising: he stashed a keyboard in his trunk to practice between his rides and suddenly music-blogger Brian Shimkowitz called him and asked about his 1985 cassettes, Brian stumbled upon. And Hailu was rediscoverd!

broadcast june 3rd 10 10.30 a.m. (GMT +1) live on: https://www.npo.nl/live/npo-1
more music: https://www.vpro.nl/vrijegeluiden
This video was recorded in TivoliVredenburg for VPRO Vrije Geluiden: music program made by the Dutch public broadcast organization VPRO