Wede Harer Guzo - Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band

Captured on cassette in 1978 during a legendary residency at the Ghion Hotel, this session finds Hailu Mergia collaborating with the youthful Dahlak Band. Mergia's electric organ sings with unhurried grace, threading delicate pentatonic ornaments through spongy Rhodes comping and understated polyrhythmic drumming. The languid pace allows the melancholic tizita mode to unfurl naturally, capturing an intimate, late-night salon atmosphere unique in recorded Ethiopian music.