Across the late 1960s and early 70s in Addis Ababa, musicians experimented with various styles of jazz in an Ethiopian way. But there is only one that can be called the ‘Father of Ethiojazz’. Much more than simply ‘jazz from Ethiopia’, the sound of Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiojazz is his own, a distinctive blend of traditions and innovations, of particular textures and timbres, scales and rhythms.
Born in Jimma, Ethiopia in 1943, with Addis Ababa as his spiritual home, Astatke’s personal connection to the streets and sounds of his country is obvious across his art. It is from this point that his musical adventures abound. Like all innovators, Mulatu Astatke takes influences from every step of his journey to create his style, and his musical education kick-started this: playing with Ghanaian, South African and Caribbean musicians while studying classical music at Trinity College, London; playing with Puerto Rican and Cuban musicians while studying jazz at Berklee. These experiences solidified his resolve to make his own sound – the musicians were all making music that reflected both their backgrounds and their adopted countries, and Ethiopia was absent from that scene. So it was up to Astatke to put it there.
At every step, the traditional sounds of Ethiopia have never been far away for Astatke. Large parts of what makes his sound so recognisable are the contrasts of the five-note Ethiopian kiñit modes and twelve-note Western chromatic scales, of Ethiopian heterophony and Western harmony. It’s a delicate balance. Speaking to Lucy Wilson in Songlines issue 68, he said of his fusion: “When you are mixing different cultures, you really have to be careful that one doesn’t dominate the other. You have the beautiful notes that were there at the start of Ethiopian music; if the twelve tones dominate the five, then the whole thing is lost.”
It’s not just the scales that make Ethiojazz. What set Astatke apart from his contemporaries in Ethiopian jazz was his addition of Latin rhythms of the congas, timbales and güiro to the ride-cymbal swings of jazz and kebero drumming rhythms of Ethiopian music. It was the first time Latin music made its mark on Ethiopia, despite the Cuban craze that had been sweeping the African continent for decades.
And so his sound as a composer is recognisable as Ethiojazz. But his sound as a musician is just as striking. That comes from his tool of choice: the vibraphone. He also plays electric piano and percussion, but it is his vibraphone, with its warmly undulating tones accentuating his music’s inherent dissonance and revelling in it, that immediately marks a piece with his involvement.
Astatke’s first heyday came in the 70s, at the height of so-called ‘Swinging Addis’. Jazz, soul and funk were all the rage in Addis Ababa, and he was in high demand as a musician and arranger, appearing on many recordings under his own name and as an accompanist. This exciting period saw him performing with the likes of Duke Ellington and Alice Coltrane on their visits to the city, and with traditional Thai musicians in a project for Ethiopian Airlines.
But this period came to an abrupt end as the Soviet-style Derg regime deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and imposed draconian laws on its citizens, hitting musicians especially hard. The vibrant scene shrank, musicians either played it safe, moved abroad or abandoned their craft altogether. As well as the domestic scene, this period also resulted in a dearth of Ethiopian music in the international consciousness. Astatke carried right on, but his influence and a promising international career waned. Even as late as 2006, in his chapter on Ethiopian music in the Rough Guide to World Music, Francis Falceto wrote 'No other musician in Ethiopia is anything like Mulatu, and it looks like his style will die with him'. Luckily, eleven years later, it is obvious that he spoke too soon.
Astatke is now one Africa’s most popular musicians in the West, and his rise to global stardom can be pin-pointed to two moments: the release of a dedicated compilation of his music in the now-legendary Éthiopiques series in 1998 (the first album in the series to spotlight a single master musician) and the inclusion of his music in Jim Jarmusch’s comedy drama Broken Flowers, starring Bill Murray, in 2005.
Since coming back into the spotlight, Mulatu hasn’t slowed down. In fact, some of his most vital work has been in the past decade. Now in his 70s, he still plays sell-out tours across Europe with his UK-based Step Ahead band, as well as performing regularly in his own club in Addis.
His triumphant return started with Inspiration Information Vol. 3, his 2009 album with open-eared UK jazzers and serial collaborators The Heliocentrics. The album set the blueprint for his subsequent releases: mostly new compositions with a handful of reworked Swinging Addis classics thrown in, European contemporary jazz players meeting with traditional Ethiopian musicians, all under the stern gaze of Astatke behind his vibes and percussion. His subsequent solo albums follow this format and take the musical experiments to the next level.
Outside of Ethiopia, Astatke’s music has been a revelation. His impact on both the world music and jazz scenes as well as more mainstream culture is obvious: there are now bands all over Europe and America dedicated to playing Ethiojazz, covering classics and forging their own takes on the style, and his influence can be heard on artists from Dengue Fever to Dr John. The hip-hop community have certainly felt an affinity with Astatke’s work too, his unmistakable sounds finding their way into pieces by Nas & Damien Marley, K’naan, Busdriver, Cut Chemist and more.
And above all, the sound is coming home. There is a burgeoning young jazz scene in Ethiopia whose sound takes in elements of Astatke’s Ethiojazz and other styles of Swinging Addis, together with all eras of jazz to make their own sound, headed by the wonderful pianist Samuel Yirga.
Reports of the death of Ethiojazz were greatly exaggerated, and, as he has been from the very start, Mulatu Astatke is still its driving force.
Best Albums
Éthiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974 (Buda Musique, 1998)
The compilation that reminded the world of Mulatu Astatke. Made up of pieces recorded at the height of Swinging Addis, this instalment of Buda’s legendary Éthiopiques series remains the essential album in Ethiojazz.
Inspiration Information, Vol. 3 (Strut Records, 2009)
The young pioneers of UK jazz meet the old master of Ethiopian jazz. Astatke’s return to the scene came in the form of this collaboration with The Heliocentrics. You can hear the crackle of creative electricity throughout.
Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut Records, 2010)
In his first solo album for several decades, Astatke obviously enjoys the free reign here. It is everything he is known for turned up to 11 – traditional instruments and scales, free jazz, dance-floor salsa and experimentation to the brim.
Sketches of Ethiopia (Jazz Village, 2013)
The ceaseless adventure and experiment continues with a more pan-African feel on this album, including a guest spot for Malian songbird Fatoumata Diawara.
Mulatu of Ethiopia (Strut Records, 1972/2017)
Strut Records have remastered and reissued this classic from 1972. Recorded in New York, this album marks the birth of what we now call Ethiojazz.
If you like Mulatu Astatke, then try…
Northern Namaste (Camoci Records, 2008)
India-born, Bradford-raised, Arun Ghosh uses his clarinet to explore South Asian and cosmopolitan themes through the medium of jazz. Although Ghosh’s music is very different from Astatke’s, their common approach towards jazz and traditional music create similar atmospheres.
Éthiopiques, Vol. 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax (Buda Musique, 2003)
A different take on 1970s Ethiopian jazz. Mèkurya based his style on shellela battle cries and used his sax to imitate the masenko one-string fiddle, creating a sound that’s not a million miles away from Albert Ayler or Eric Dolphy.
Photo: Mulatu Astatke, by Mário Pires. Used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.