Debut LP From Ethipion Jazz Master - Latin & African Flavas
Mulatu Astatqé (also sometimes spelled Mulatu Astatke, as he is on the liner notes to this release) might be most known to international audiences through his tracks on the excellent Ethiopiques CD anthology series of Ethiopian music. Long before those tracks were compiled for that series, however, he had an American release with this 1972 instrumental album, on which he's billed as "Mulatu of Ethiopia." Like much of the best of the circa-early-'70s contemporary Ethiopian music on Ethiopiques, it's a fine, at times captivating blend of late-'60s American soul and jazz with Ethiopian music, resulting in something not quite comparable to anything else. It is undeniably funky, with wah-wah guitar and organ aplenty. There's plenty of contemporary jazz in the arrangements, too, the sax runs sometimes showing the influence of the likes of John Coltrane. Yet there's a melancholy minor cast to the melodies that marks this off as something quite different
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PLAY
CUE
MP3
a1
Mulatu
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Mascaram Setaba
a3
Dewel
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Kulunmanqueleshi
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Kasalefkut-Hulu
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Munaye
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Chifara
Last FM Information on Mulatu Astatke
Please note the information is done on a artist keyword match and data is provided by LastFM.
Mulatu Astatke (born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger widely regarded as the father of Ethio-jazz.
Born in Jimma, he received formal musical training in London, New York City, and Boston, where he developed a fusion of jazz and Latin music with traditional Ethiopian sounds. As a bandleader, Mulatu performed on the vibraphone and conga drums—both of which he introduced to Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organs. His work is primarily instrumental, and he appears on all three known instrumental albums released during the Ethiopian Golden Age of Music in the 1970s. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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