ASMARA, by Hermon Mehari

ASMARA

by Hermon Mehari

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Full album mastered for vinyl and cut by Frank Merritt at the Carvery.

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test pressing
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Album test pressing from Optimal Media
Signed by Hermon Mehari

Includes unlimited streaming of ASMARA via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Who Dared It 03:11	buy track
2.	Call Me Habesha 03:48	buy track
3.	Tanafaqit 03:33	buy track
4.	I Remember Eritrea 05:39	buy track
5.	Soul Chant 04:48	buy track
6.	Anthem For Independence 08:06	buy track
7.	Melsi 02:44	buy track
8.	Milobe - Lawa Furda 03:23	buy track

about

Who dared it, the album’s opening track, is a tribute to the city Hermon Mehari’s father grew up in, MENDEFERA. It also pays homage to the courage of this man who dared leave his native land, Eritrea. He departed in 1979, in the midst of a war against Ethiopia. Arriving in Italy after a perilous journey, he met his future wife in a refugee camp located in the ‘country of the Red Sea’, and left with her for the United States, country where Hermon was born some thirty- five years ago.
The trumpetist, trained in jazz in one of its heartlands - Kansas City, waited until the global pandemic to explore the musical aspects of his ancestral culture.
Under lockdown, alone in the Corrèze region of Southwestern France, he played with the rhythms, melodies and scales he had heard as a child, in his home and at community celebrations. The result was a track with electronic inflections featured on his previous album - A Change for The Dreamlike.
In September 2021, during the recording of Sélène Saint-Aimé’ second album, an artist Hermon accompanies on record and on stage, Antoine Rajon suggested he compose an album entirely dedicated to his family heritage. All the tracks on ASMARA bring us back to Eritrea - a country Hermon visited only once, at the age of 5. The sights, sounds and smells of this lone voyage inspired the composition I Remember Eritrea. The only duo on the record showcases the deep musical symbiosis he maintains with long-time friend, Peter Schlamb - a pianist and vibraphonist who has worked in the USA with musicians such as Logan Richardson, Ben Van Gelder and Aaron Parks.
Gautier Garrigue, a drummer who has played with Henri Texier and David Enhco, manages to claim the traditional rhythms we hear all through the album as his own, propelled by the driving basslines of double bass player Luca Fattorini - a musician from Italy now living in Paris.
Faytinga lends her vocals to two tracks. Lauded during the war of independence, where she fought, weapons in hand, she has since become one of the strongest and most popular voices in Eritrea.
Milobe is a lullaby recorded for French label Cobalt in 2000 and rearranged by the trumpetist. Tanafaqit, unfolding over a composition by Hermon, is a paeon to exile where Faytinga uses nostalgia to conjure up a motherland she has been divorced from since moving to Switzerland.
Though we are familiar with Ethiopian jazz, whose tradition is long-lasting, Asmara constitutes an original experience of jazz inspired by the folklore of various Eritrean peoples. Beyond the political conflicts that oppose their leaders, the populations of these two nations claim a common and fraternal allegiance to Abyssinian culture, as expressed by Hermon on one of his compositions: Call Me Habesha!

credits

released November 18, 2022

Hermon Mehari : trumpet
Peter Schlamb : piano, vibraphone
Luca Fattorini : double bass
Gautier Garrigue : drums
Faytinga : vocals on Milobe Lawa Furda and Tanafaqit

A&R : Antoine RAJON

Music composed and arranged by Hermon Mehari except MILOBE - LAWA. FURDA, music composed by Hermon Mehari and Faytinga
Lyrics on Tenafaqit and Milobe - Lawa Furda by FAYTINGA
All songs published by Silène Editions

Recorded and mixed by Félix Rémy in March 2022 at Studio Pigalle, Paris
Mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery London

Cover artwork by Lossapardo

'A loving thanks to the family: Mehari Zehaie, Rigat Ghebre, Joseph Mehari, Tefsai Tsehaie, Turu Negash, Benyam and Aaron Tesfai'

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about

Komos records Paris, France

Komos is a Paris-based jazz label. We provide a fresh platform for both emerging and established musicians to explore & promote new musical angles and approaches, hosting recording sessions in the historic Studio Pigalle in the 9th Arrondissement.

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