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Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astatke is an innovative multi-talented musician, composer, arranger and the founder of Ethio Jazz. Born in Jimma, Ethiopia, Mulatu Astatke studied at Lindisfarne College and Trinity College of Music in England and Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. As a vibraphone, conga and percussion player, he has performed at numerous concerts in Ethiopia and abroad, including appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and Barbican Center in London. Mulatu also performed as a guest artist with the Duke Ellington orchestra during its visit to Ethiopia in 1971. Most recently, Mulatu has contributed prominently to the soundtrack of the film Broken Flowers.


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Live Review

Mulatu Astatke al JazzMi di Milano

Read "Mulatu Astatke al JazzMi di Milano" reviewed by Luca Muchetti


Mulatu Astatke JazzMi Alcatraz Milano 5.11.2017 Primo africano a frequentare la Berklee e a suonare con Duke Ellington, la leggenda dell'etno-jazz etiope Mulatu Astatke era uno dei nomi più attesi del festival JazzMi. La rassegna che da oltre una settimana (e fino al 12 novembre) sta portando alcuni degli artisti più interessanti del jazz planetario su piccoli e grandi palchi di Milano ha puntato su un locale fra i più noti al grande ...

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Album Review

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches of Ethiopia

Read "Sketches of Ethiopia" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke is the creator of Ethio-jazz and reputedly the first African musician to study at Berklee. Prior to that he had studied music in Wales and London. Whilst in America in the 1960s and early 1970s Astatke absorbed diverse influences and a dense rhythmic mosaic is a key component of this pulsating recording. Afro-Latin, jazz and funk vibes meet traditional Ethiopian roots music, with Astatke leading a stellar band of musicians from Ethiopia, London and Paris.

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Album Review

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches of Ethiopia

Read "Sketches of Ethiopia" reviewed by Chris May


Sketches of Ethiopia is, extraordinarily, the first album Mulatu Astatke, the godfather of Ethio-jazz, has recorded with his own band for an international label of influence. It has been a long time coming and it is a corker.Astatke, on vibraphone and keyboards, is accompanied by his regular touring band, Step Ahead, which has at its core A-list British jazz musicians--among them, trumpeter Byron Wallen, drummer Tom Skinner, bassist John Edwards and reed player James Arden. Step Ahead's 12-piece ...

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Film Review

Mulatu Astatke: February 1, 2009

Read "Mulatu Astatke: February 1, 2009" reviewed by Chris May


Mulatu AstatkeFebruary 1, 2009Mochilla2010 For the first 40 years of his professional life, composer and vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz, remained practically unknown outside his own country. That changed in 2005, when his atmosphere-laden recordings were featured extensively on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch-directed movie Broken Flowers. Since then, Astatke (sometimes spelt Astatqe), born in 1943, has become a celebrity in jazz and world music circles, and has even ...

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Festival

Jazztopad Hosts Wadada Leo Smith, Pharoah Sanders And Mulatu Astatke, 13 - 23 November

Jazztopad Hosts Wadada Leo Smith, Pharoah Sanders And Mulatu Astatke, 13 - 23 November

Source: All About Jazz

Jazztopad, the internationally renowned Polish jazz festival held in jny:Wroclaw, returns for its 11th edition from 13 – 23 November 2014. This year promises to be a tremendously exciting festival, with the usual mixture of jazz legends, up-and-coming talent, World Premieres, international showcases and much more besides. Trumpeter Nate Wooley gets the festival underway on the 13th with the premiere of his work Psalms from Hell, featuring the ever-adventurous soprano Megan Schubert and the Festival Cello Ensemble. The second half ...

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Interview

Mulatu Astatke: The Man and His Influence

Mulatu Astatke: The Man and His Influence

Source: Giant Step

Mulatu Astatke is a musical titan, in the same league as the likes of Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade, yet he was first recognized to most people when The Paris-based world music record label, Buda Musique devoted the entire 4th installment of their respected series, Ethiopiques, to his compositions in 1998.

Astatke was born in 1943 in a town called Jimma in Ethiopia. His family sent him abroad to Wales to study chemical engineering, and instead, he came home ...

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Recording

Mulatu Astatke: New Album

Mulatu Astatke: New Album

Source: JamBase

MULATU ASTATKE TO RELEASE MULATU STEPS AHEAD THIS SPRING

Mulatu Astatke Following his acclaimed Inspiration Information collaboration with The Heliocentrics, the Father of Ethio jazz Mulatu Astatke presents his brand new studio album, Mulatu Steps Ahead, this Spring.

The album explores new directions in fusions of Western jazz with Ethiopian modes, moving forward the pioneering sound Mulatu developed during the '60s and '70s, showcased on the recent Strut compilation New York - Addis - London. For the new album, tracks ...

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Music Industry

Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics

Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics

Source: JamBase

By: Jim Welte

Mulatu Astatke Nearly 50 years ago, a bright-eyed Ethiopian teen arrived in Wrexham, a county borough in the northeastern part of Wales. His parents had sent him nearly 4,000 miles from home to attend a renowned boarding school that welcomed a host of Ethiopians students. Young Mulatu Astatke quickly formed a bond with the school's band teacher, developing an interest in the trumpet and clarinet.

After ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Sketches of Ethiopia

Harmonia Mundi
2014

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Sketches Of Ethiopia

Harmonia Mundi
2013

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Yègellé Tezeta /...

Jazz Village
2012

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Mulatu Steps Ahead

Jazz Village
2010

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Mochilla Presents...

Jazz Village
2010

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Mulatu

From: Ethio Jazz Vol. 1
By Mulatu Astatke

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