Meklit at SubCulture: Arts Underground

If Joni Mitchell were East African, sang duets with Norah Jones and met Nina Simone for tea in San Francisco, it just might remind you of MEKLIT. Born in Ethiopia, based in San Francisco for the past nine years, singer/composer/cultural activist Meklit became a sensation with the release of her debut “On a Day Like This ” in April 2010. An enchanting album featuring luminous, original songs, and some traditional Amharic music as well. It got rave reviews across the board. NPR called Hadero’s sound, “a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry ; it paints pictures in your head as you listen.” PBS said “You’ll hear hints of Billie Holliday, Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell in her music but Hadero is her own unique creation.” And the San Francisco Chronicle called Meklit ”...an artistic giant in the early stages . She is stunning.”...

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If Joni Mitchell were East African, sang duets with Norah Jones and met Nina Simone for tea in San Francisco, it just might remind you of MEKLIT. Born in Ethiopia, based in San Francisco for the past nine years, singer/composer/cultural activist Meklit became a sensation with the release of her debut “On a Day Like This ” in April 2010. An enchanting album featuring luminous, original songs, and some traditional Amharic music as well. It got rave reviews across the board. NPR called Hadero’s sound, “a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry ; it paints pictures in your head as you listen.” PBS said “You’ll hear hints of Billie Holliday, Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell in her music but Hadero is her own unique creation.” And the San Francisco Chronicle called Meklit ”...an artistic giant in the early stages . She is stunning.”

She continues to break down genres, whether covering indie pop-rock hits and making them her own , adapting traditional or popular Ethiopian songs , or collaborating on a hip-hop space opera or in her own exquisite and original solo work. In any case, as SFJAZZ says “Meklit has truly established herself as a modern queen of soul “

Meklit’s new album on Six Degrees, produced by Eli Crews (tUnE-yArDs) is due out March 2014

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