After some astonishing hip-hop from Rasheed Jamal, psychedelic folk from Mapache, Michael Nau, Alela Diane, trucker country from New York’s Zephaniah Ohora, we have a session from Ethiopian Jazz keyboard legend Hailu Mergia up now as part of the series. Watch him perform 'Yene Mircha' at the Pumphouse, on Pendarvis Farm in Oregon, USA, first on Gigwise below.

Mergia practices his keyboard in the car he spends all day driving around Washington DC earning a living in as a taxi driver. But his modest earnings from music don't reflect the richness of experience. 

Before moving to the US, when based in Ethipia’s capital city Addis Ababa, he started as a keyboardist and accordionist in the popular 70s jazz band Walias Band - a band who'd play 12-hour concerts at the Addis Ababa Hilton hotel; and whose hit 'Muziqawi Silt’ is one of few Ethiopian tracks to find an audience outside of the country (Ethiopia was in the grips of the violent, bloody Derg regime at the time).

In 1981, the Walias Band moved to the USA, toured, but split up after one tour. This sad time prompted Mergia to release his debut solo album Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument in 1985. But the musician has been dormant in terms of studio releases until just recently.

Despite not earning him a career the first time around, his debut solo album received a chance release on reissue label Awesome Tapes from Africa in 2014. This put him back on the map and his records in stores. He's taken this galvanizing compliment and run with it. He's released his first album in more than 30 years with last year's Lala Belu. The release became acclaimed all around the indie press in the UK and US and Pickathon have brilliantly added to his legacy by filming the above session.

The band play a track called 'Yene Mircha' and his virtuoso ability and distinct tones can be seen up close and personal.