{"title":"Mulatu Astatke","description":"\u003cp\u003eMulatu Astatke (b. 1943, Jimma, Ethiopia) is the architect of Ethio-jazz, a sound he built by threading the pentatonic modes of traditional Ethiopian music through the harmonic language of American jazz and Latin funk. The fusion wasn't accidental. Astatke studied at Trinity College of Music in London and became the first African student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, before recording his earliest albums in New York in 1966. Returning to Addis Ababa in the early 1970s, he documented his most influential work through the local Amha Records label, sessions layering vibraphone and percussion over coiled grooves that felt simultaneously ancient and utterly modern. Those recordings were largely unavailable outside Ethiopia until the Éthiopiques reissue series brought them to international ears in the late 1990s, and they remain some of the most sought-after vinyl in the world. Collectors will find key Éthiopiques volumes alongside Strut catalogue titles from his later collaborations with The Heliocentrics and Melbourne's Black Jesus Experience.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"mulatu-astatke-mulatu-of-ethiopia-2022-strut-records-reissue-vinyl-lp","title":"Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia (2022 Strut Records Reissue Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMulatu Astatke - \u003cem\u003eMulatu of Ethiopia\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 2022 Strut Records Reissue (STRUT129LP, remastered by Frank Merritt\/The Carvery, Pallas)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMulatu Astatke grew up in Jimma, Ethiopia, studied music in London, then enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston as the institution's first African student. He moved between New York and Addis Ababa throughout the 1960s and 70s, absorbing jazz, Latin rhythms and traditional Ethiopian music simultaneously. By 1972, when he recorded \u003cem\u003eMulatu of Ethiopia\u003c\/em\u003e in a downtown Manhattan studio with producer Gil Snapper and a group of New York session players, that synthesis had crystallised into something that had no obvious precedent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ethiopian pentatonic scale — a five-note modal system without the half-steps that define Western harmonic movement — runs through every track. Astatke layered it over jazz rhythms, Latin percussion and funk-inflected bass lines, producing a sound that was simultaneously ancient and entirely contemporary. Seven tracks: three Astatke originals (\"Mulatu,\" \"Kasalefkut-Hulu\" and \"Chifara\"), and four arrangements of traditional or pre-existing material. \"Kulunmanqueleshi\" is a traditional wedding song. \"Dewel,\" meaning \"bell\" in Amharic, is based on Ethiopian church music. The album was originally released on Snapper's Worthy label in an edition so small it became a crate-digger's obsession by the mid-1990s. Ethiopian Airlines sponsored the original pressing and used it as in-flight music. After the 1974 military coup suppressed Ethio-jazz in Ethiopia for a generation, the music resurfaced internationally through the Éthiopiques CD series beginning in 1998.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 2022 Strut pressing was remastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery from the original master tapes and pressed at Schallplattenfabrik Pallas.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strut","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43431536001083,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/a1457850517_10.jpg?v=1776511600"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/mulatu-astatke.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}