While turbulent times followed during the reign of Mengistu's corrupt Marxist regime from 1974 to 1991, Mulatu has always publicly side-stepped political issues and let his music do the talking. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974 collection, released in 1998, provided an invaluable primer to his work from this period. His return from the US in the late 1960s coincided with the end of Emperor Haile Selassie's reign, a period recognised as a 'golden era' for the country and music of that time. Mulatu introduced the Hammond organ and the instrument he is best known for playing, the vibraphone, to Ethiopia after studying music in London and Berklee School Of Music and time spent playing and releasing records in New York. The music itself mixes urban club tempos with traditional rural folk styles, with Mulatu's trademark Ethio-jazz fusion of Latin percussion and Afro-funk rhythms.Ĭlick here to listen and buy this album on eMusic Among the Ethiopian instruments used are masinko (single-bowed lute), krar (six-string lyre) and washint (bamboo flute), alongside traditional jazz instruments including piano, bass, saxophone, trumpet and cello, and the west African harp-like kora. With Sketches Of Ethiopia Mulatu Astatke has taken inspiration from all kinds of Ethiopian music, using a wide range of experimental local instruments to explore the rich cultural palette of the East African country (home to around 90 different languages). Sketches Of Ethiopia sees him get closer to his goal, and while some may be content at this stage to rely on former glories, Mulatu continues to create and expand on his pioneering vision for Ethiopian music. Speaking to The Quietus earlier this year Mulatu, in his seventieth year, said the purist form of the music would be based entirely on traditional and developed Ethiopian instruments. Always pushing forward, Mulatu Astatke still envisages new paths for his Ethio-jazz music. Ethio-Groove Mix For Radio Cafe Gibraltar.
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People began to pick up on Ethio-jazz, among them US movie director Jim Jarmusch, who featured Astatke’s 1970s recordings prominently on the soundtrack of Broken Flowers (2005). Volume four, Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale 1969-1974, released in 1998, comprised album tracks and singles recorded by Astatke either under his own name or as arranger/bandleader. Internationally, Astatke’s fortunes improved in the late 1990s, when the Paris-based label Buda Musique launched its Ethiopiques reissue series. Under the Derg, Ethiopia’s fledgling music business was suppressed. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, ousted Selassie and seized power.
But the audience for Astatke’s music was small, for Ethiopia had no broad tradition of instrumental music. State control of the music business was weakening and a handful of enthusiasts were setting up independent labels which the expiring regime lacked the energy to close down. He returned to Ethiopia towards the end of the decade, in the dog days of Haile Selassie’s imperial rule. The material is largely through-written and the emphasis is on the ensemble, as always with Astatke: composer/arrangers Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were prominent among his formative jazz influences.īorn in 1943, Astatke studied in Britain and the US in the 1960s. Elsewhere the album reflects Step Ahead’s up-tempo, dance-friendly live approach. That vibe is revisited on two tracks: “Gumuz,” a traditional melody given a laid back, West Coast jazz-funk arrangement, and Astatke’s “Motherland Abay,” a showcase for the Ethiopian instruments. The album, a mix of originals and arrangements of traditional Ethiopian tunes, is generally hotter and more urgent than you would expect from Astatke’s classic early 1970s recordings.
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