Hailu Mergia at YBG Festival

Opening Set from Howard Wiley

In the 1970s, when Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa entered a musical golden age powered by a cadre of brilliant musicians combining traditional song forms with American jazz, funk and soul. Keyboardist Hailu Mergia’s Wallis Band was at the center of the action. Even repression by a military regime didn’t slow him down, as he pivoted to writing and playing instrumental pieces so that lyrics wouldn’t give the authorities a pretext for offense. But by the early 1990s Mergia had settled in Washington, D.C. and was no longer performing. His return to the stage in recent years is one of world music’s great stories, and his band is a creative force, delivering ancient melodies set to state-of-the-art Ethio-jazz grooves. Moving from keyboard to organ to accordion to melodica, Mergia deftly switches instruments—often during the same song. As he approaches 80, he seems indefatigable, extending his legacy with intoxicating performances.

When it’s time to get a party started, Howard Wiley gets the call. The Oakland saxophonist has been a mainstay on the Bay Area music scene since he was a teenager, and now he’s taken up the mantle of his mentors, playing soul-steeped jazz palpably connected to its social music roots. Impossible to pigeonhole, Wiley can generate blowtorch heat in just about any context, whether he’s playing Ethio-jazz with Meklit, laying down shuffle beats on drums as one of Lavay Smith’s Red Hot Skillet Lickers or testifying with veteran Hammond B3 organ masters like Doug Carn and Chester Thompson. As a bandleader, he works with the toughest players on the scene.

Pre-show music from KALW DJ Charlotte K at 1pm.

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Host or Publisher Yerba Buena Gardens Festival