This is a beautiful record from a man who over the last few decades has won a rightful place in the hearts of many a global jazz fan. Mulatu is known as father of the music, he himself, named as “Ethio Jazz”. His impact was first felt in the late 60s and early 70s when he changed the face of jazz-based music in his home country of Ethiopia.
Fascinatingly before that he had studied at both Berklee and the Trinity College of Music in London. Gigging prolifically in the city he became friends with saxophonist Joe Harriott and vocalist Frank Holder.
Featuring new arrangements of some of his classic compositions, Mulatu Plays Mulatu was recorded between London and Addis Ababa, working with his long-standing UK band, a tight, intuitive ensemble honed through years of live performance, alongside cultural musicians resident at his Jazz Village club in Addis.
Mulatu Plays Mulatu realises Mulatu’s long-term vision of Ethio-jazz, balancing Western jazz arrangements with the rich sounds of traditional Ethiopian instruments including the krar, masenqo, washint, kebero and begena. Throughout the album, he reshapes familiar material with rich textures, expanded improvisations and a deepened rhythmic complexity, creating a body of work that feels as vital and contemporary as it does steeped in tradition. Familiar compositions like ‘Yekermo Sew’, ‘Netsanet’ and the celebratory ‘Kulun’ are reinvented here as elegant big band performances.
“Ethio-jazz brings us together and makes us one,” explains Mulatu. “This album is the culmination of my work bringing this music to the world and pays respect to our unsung heroes, the original musical scientists in Ethiopia who gave us our cultural music.”
Bridging continents and generations throughout his 50-year career, Astatke now offers us an invitation to hear his music again, with a completely fresh perspective. Ethio-jazz, like its creator, is always in motion. Mulatu will soon embark on his farewell tour including gigs at the EFG London Jazz Festival.
This is Our Chosen One