Mulatu Astatke's Ethio-Jazz = ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ* ጋር ከፋቃደ አሞደ መስቀል - የካተት


Sometime around 1994 a friend handed me Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 - Underground System. I had no idea who Fela was at the time and knew pretty much nothing of what I was about to dive into. It sounds ridiculous, but as a half Mexican kid who had been steeped in Latin and Afro-Cuban music for much of my life, I hadn't given much thought to music from Africa beyond field recordings of tribal music or stuff I had seen in documentaries. I hadn't made the connection, that all the music being played in every bodega on every corner in my Brooklyn neighbourhood was a direct result of African DNA. I would say it's a punishable offence, however I have way beyond made up for my musical transgressions prior to writing this, so I will pardon myself if you don't mind.

As with most of my musical journeys, it all began with one record. That one Fela & Egypt 80 record led me down a massive river with infinite tributaries regarding African music and who and what that entailed. My limited knowledge has mainly focused on western African sounds directly influenced by American soul, funk and disco. In recent years this has been fuelled by some very dedicated and passionate collectors and reissue labels, e.g., Voodoo Funk (Frank Gossner), Analog Africa, Hot Casa, etc. These guys have made it their mission to release rare African sounds that had previously only been available to either collectors able to afford £500-£2000 for one LP, or the people who are willing to dig deep and far abroad to unearth rare gems. Rarity can be a beautiful thing when you have the dough or time to throw at it.  Music was made to be heard, not shelved and fetishised for exclusive ears only. The people who made these records wanted everyone to hear their music and their message, not just a few guys with money and egos.



Joe Biden once referred to Africa as "The Nation of Africa". As pathetic as that statement may be (Sorry uncle Joe), the thought is not that uncommon and it demonstrates the incredibly limited knowledge many people have regarding what, where and who Africa is culturally. While the main focus on much of the recent resurgence and popularity of African music has been the very danceable sounds that came out of countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Mali in the late 60s and 70s, only until very recently has music from the north and east of the continent begun to see equal attention.

Countries like Morroco, Eqypt, Sudan and Ethiopia didn't translate western sounds in the same accessible way as their southern and western cousins. That is not to say that what evolved there was anything but mind blowingly beautiful and passionate. In fact, the dam has burst and there are now quite a few collectors, labels and websites who have begun to release and share their north and east African finds. A shining example being Habibi Funk who amongst a myriad of releases, put out the three volume Abdou El Omari - Nuits De Printemps and also managed to dig up original copies of this Egyptian gem by Sharifa Fadel.




Get on with the bloody story, El Guapo! Ok, ok!  In 1997, French record label Buda Musique released the Ethiopiques series, focusing on popular Ethiopian music from the 60s and 70s. Some of the releases featured specific artists and their individual styles, specifically Ethiopiques: Volume 4, featuring Mulatu Astatke. Prior to this release Mulatu Astatke was only known to nerdy collectors who would occasionally sell on copies of his recordings at record shows for obscene prices. This began to change with the release of Ethiopiques and the use of several Mulatu Astatke tracks in the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers piquing the interest of a mainstream western audience.

Mulatu Astatke studied music in London, New York and Boston starting in the early 60s, cutting his teeth on Vibraphone and percussion. Whereas his later and younger African contemporaries were strongly influenced by American soul and funk, Mulatu Astatke, being slightly older, was more immersed in the burgeoning Jazz and Latin scenes happening in the early to  mid 60s. There was a huge period of cross pollination between African, latin and American music happening at this time and you can hear the sound and rhythm influences clearly winding their way through the music of Pharaoh Sanders  and Roland Kirk, as well as young Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican artists like Ray BarettoWillie Colon and Tito Puente. Mulatu Astatke's music from that time heavily reflected all of these influences and as a result he released his Afro-Latin Soul Vol 1 & 2 in 1966. Both records were exactly what they said on the cover and resulted in two top notch Afro-Soul/Jazz LPs.



Over the next five years between 1966 and 1971 he didn't release any further music and focused mainly on collaborating with other musicians and playing live. During this time he was busy formulating the recipe combining latin and jazz sounds with traditional Ethiopian sounds and rhythms. When he finally emerged from his laboratory he released two LPs Mulatu of Ethiopia (1972) and Yekatit Ethio-Jazz, featuring Fekade Amde Maskal (1974) both of which would end up being groundbreaking and influential.

Strangely he wouldn't release another record until 1989 and not again until 2009. In the last ten to fifteen years there has been a hugely successful movement in new soul labels and artists, e.g., Daptone records, Truth & Soul and Colemine records, Antibalas, Budos Band, Imperial Tiger Orchestra and The Heliocentrics . All of which have paid enormous respect to Mulatu Astatke's music and have also collaborated and released some incredible records with him, as well. More records I will have to slave myself away or sell my soul to afford. C'est la vie!

For some reason, no one has uploaded Yekatit Ethio-Jazz, featuring Fekade Amde Maskal (1974) in its entirety on Youtube. All the songs are available separately barring one for some reason. So I have created a Youtube playlist below with all the tracks (but one) in the original order on the LP.  If Mulatu Astatke moves you, do yourself a favour and click on all the links I have placed throughout this post, pour yourself a glass of whatever, sit down, stand up, dance and take a little trip!



Make sure to follow me either here or on the group FB page @ The Adventures of Señor El Guapo !! for updates on the latest posts. Don't forget to check out The In Deep Music Archive if you want to fall into the music vortex even deeper.

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