Announcing A Piece of Infinity, the multifaceted Ethio-jazz exploration by world-renowned vocalist, songwriter, composer, and cultural strategist Meklit. A Piece of Infinity is available for pre-order now, and will be released on CD, LP, and digitally on September 26th. A Piece of Infinity is available for pre-order here.

Meklit is a former refugee born in Addis Ababa and based in San Francisco who has collaborated with everyone from Andrew Bird to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Music animates Meklit’s life even outside of her performances: she currently lectures as a visiting artist at Stanford University and hosts the Movement podcast, a multi-platform storytelling initiative that explores the intersection of migration and music, airing on PRX’s The World. Her music has been praised by The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR, who described her songs as “a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry; it paints pictures in your head as you listen.”

On A Piece of Infinity, Meklit takes listeners on a journey into the Ethiopian music “galaxy.” Every song on the album has roots in traditional Ethiopian folk music, and Meklit’s process of arranging and recording the album’s nine tracks included researching, translating, re-composing, and juxtaposing a selection of folk songs into reimagined contemporary works. Over the course of the album, Meklit sings these traditional Ethiopian songs in multiple native languages, including Kembata, Amharic, and Oromo, along with two songs in English. They come together to form a complex body of work that communicates a core spirit of Ethiopian music and its diversity while acknowledging that no piece of art can fully encompass or capture a culture of over 80 languages, 300 dialects, and millions in diaspora worldwide.

A Piece of Infinity highlights songs and stories, exemplified by the album’s first single, “Tizita,” that are traditionally performed by women and girls, celebrating the role they play in music and culture at large. The album was recorded entirely at the Bay Area’s Women’s Audio Mission, and features guest appearances by harpist Brandee Younger and flutist Camille Thurman. Much of its sound was inspired by Meklit’s newest chapter in life: as a mother to a six-year-old son. The album received funding from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, and was originally conceived through a grant from the Creative Work Fund.