Hailu Mergia and the Walias—Yikirta Lemminalehu

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Hailu Mergia, a keyboardist and arranger diligently working the nightclub scene in Addis Ababa, formed the Walias in the early 1970’s with a core group of musical colleagues assembled from the remnants of prior working bands attached to the Zula and Venus clubs. One of the first “private” bands, the Walias got a steady gig at the prestigious Hilton Addis Ababa and remained independent from the government-supported bands of the time as well as from the clubs who employed bands.

While the oppressive and often brutal, Socialism-inspired Derg government (1974-1987) had a firm grip on Ethiopians following the revolution, Walias organized their own contracts and eschewed government patronage. Unlike the celebrated bands of the run-up to Selassie’s removal—the Police Orchestra, Imperial Bodyguard Band, National Theater Band, Ethiopian Army Band, Hager Fikir Theater Band, City Hall Theatre Folkloric Group and so on—the Wailas developed fame on their own terms and maintained control of their instruments and performances. They played the blues-, funk- and soul-informed tunes Mergia was writing and arranging, while cutting 45rpm recordings released by Kaifa Records with popular vocalists, including Getachew Kassa and Alemayehu Borobor.

After several singles, Mergia decided to do something different: record a full-length album. The band—which at the time featured Moges Habte (saxophone and flute), Mahmmud Aman (guitar), Yohannes Tekola (trumpet), Melake Gabrie (bass guitar), Girma Beyene (piano), Temare Haregu (drums), Abebe Kassa (alto saxophone) and special guest Mulatu Astatke (vibes)—entered Radio Voice of the Gospel studios to record their first long-player. The director of the station knew Mergia personally and connected the band with a sound engineer there. (Incidentally, the Lutheran-owned station was taken over shortly thereafter by the Derg government and used for propaganda purposes.)

Influenced in large part by Jimmy Smith, Mergia and the Walias merged the popular international sounds available in Ethiopia at the time with the traditional tunes that formed the foundation of most musicians’ repertoires. But for this LP, instead of playing the role of backing band, Mergia wanted four of his bandmates to contribute arrangements, so that the album would capture a spectrum of sounds with the instruments and groove positioned out front.