Ethiopian Knights: Mulatu Astatke 80

Mulatu Astatke - Nètsanèt

Let's continue to dismember December with a milestone trip around the sun for one of the truly master musicians of this world.

Probably the most revered and accomplished of all living musos that hail from Ethiopia, Mulatu Astatke -- and his unique brand of African Jazz -- have been around forever.

Sent by his parents to study Engineering in Wales in the late 1950s, he decided on music upon his arrival in England.

Then he came to America to study, and absorbed the entire musical firmament of the turbulent 1960s in the process.

His first records, made in 1965 and 1966, have a Latin flavor, but he soon became engaged with the nascent Funk sound then coming to dominate music.

All of this gradually coalesced until he was leading his own orchestras at the start of the 1970s, in a pan-stylistic genre he termed "Ethio Jazz".

Equal parts Hard Bop, Latin Jazz and Deep Funk, his records became highly sought after for samples once Hip Hop came on the scene.

Anyway he has indeed been true to his Ethio Jazz vision for five decades now, and as far as I know he still plays at festivals around the globe.

This crackling show dates from his big career renaissance in the 2010s, when a lot of his stuff got reissued and repackaged for the next generations.

This one contains most of his most popular tunes, and funks about as hard as you'd need it to.

Mulatu Astatke
Steps Ahead
Novara Jazz Festival
Piazza Duomo
Novara, Italy
5.29.2010

01 FM introduction by Pino Saulo

02 introduction of Mulatu Astatke

03 Dèwèl 

04 Yèkèrmo Sèw 

05 Mulatu's Mood

06 Nètsanèt 

07 Yèkatit

08 The Way to Nice

09 Chik Chikka

10 Motherland

11 Yègellé Tezeta

12 Mulatu

13 Yègellé Tezeta (reprise)

14 FM outro

Total time: 1:30:44

disc break goes after Track 07

Mulatu Astatke - vibraphone, percussion & pianoforte

Byron Wallen - trumpet

James Arben - saxophones, bass clarinet & flute

Dan Keane - keyboards & cello

Kadialy Kouyate - kora

Davide Mantovani - bass

Tom Skinner - drums

Richard Olatunde Baker - percussion

digital capture of an analog Radio 3 RAI broadcast from October 2010

retracked & remastered -- with FM intro edited -- by EN, December 2023
653 MB FLAC/direct link

I will return on Saturday with some very swinging Water for under your Bridge, and then it's on to Christmas in Margaritaville, salt shaker optional.

Until the weekend, I'm counting on you to tune in to this little blast of Radio Ethiopia, as we celebrate the 80th birthday of Mulatu Astatke, one of that country's most beloved sons.--J.