Vibraphone and Percussion | b. 1943

Mulatu Astatke developed his sound across more than a decade of formal study, at Trinity College of Music in London and then at Berklee, where he became the first African student, before returning to Addis Ababa to document the fusion he called Ethio-jazz. The music drew on the pentatonic scales and rhythmic sensibility of traditional Ethiopian music and threaded them through the improvisational structures of American jazz, with vibraphone at the centre. Working primarily through Amha Records in Addis, he produced the recordings now gathered under the Éthiopiques umbrella, which didn't reach global ears until Buda Musique began reissuing them in 1998. Later work with The Heliocentrics (Inspiration Information Vol. 3, Strut, 2009) and Melbourne's Black Jesus Experience extended his reach without softening his commitment to the original sound. His debut sessions, Afro-Latin Soul Vol. 1 & 2 (Worthy Records, 1966), reveal the Latin foundations beneath it all.