A creative force in the Mission since her early years at the Red Poppy Art House, Meklit will be at Brava to celebrate a new release.
Necessity might be the mother of invention, but impending motherhood can offer its own potent inspiration. For Meklit, the imminent arrival of her son León in the summer of 2019 fueled the songwriting sessions that led to her new EP, “Ethio-Blue.”
Eager to work together again, they were talking about how to proceed when Meklit’s life got very complicated. Around four months pregnant, she had just started a new job as Chief of Program at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts when she began writing new material. In the past, she’d set aside weeks of open time to work on songs, but that was no longer possible.
The EP’s title track is something on an aesthetic mission statement honoring her ancestors, an Amharic response to Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria’s jazz standardWith the advent of the pandemic, her music took shape in response to the struggles she saw around her, like the opening piece, “One of my favorite tracks is “Hagere Ethiopia,” Meklit’s collaboration with poet and playwright Alemtsehay Wedajo, a leading force in Ethiopian theater and the founding director of the Tayitu Cultural...
She’s not sure what comes next, but “Ethio-Blue” arrives as a heart-felt response to the imperative of finding her own musical path. Along the way, she’s delivered a bracing shot of Ethiosoul for anyone in need of succor and joy in these weird times,
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