Mulatu Astatke - Are all his records genius?

I have recently discovered this music and have written about it here:

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/mulatu-askatke-the-story-of-ethio-jazz-1965-1975-round-32-toms-selection/

I ma keen to check out some of his studio albums but which one(s) are the best?

Buy anything you can find.

you might want to check out this thread, he's mentioned many times:

Ethiopiques S/D

i love his music, but i only have two of his albums: Afro-latin Soul and Mulatu of Ethiopia. They're both awesome, but very short. i'm guessing that The Story of Ethio Jazz features songs from both releases, so you're probably already familiar with the best cuts. Afro-Latin Soul is earlier stuff, mid-60s, and as the title suggests, is way more Latin jazz influenced than his other stuff (at least what I've heard). Mulatu of Ethiopia is amazing, unique, funked out psych jazz, but you already know that.

i'd be curious to hear about some of his other material that rarely gets mentioned - what was he doing in the 80s and 90s?

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread about him, but if you search "ethiopiques" you'll find some discussion of him on those threads.

'Ethiopiques 4' is mostly his late 60s/70s material, I think. v. good.

i'd be curious to hear about some of his other material that rarely gets mentioned - what was he doing in the 80s and 90s?

― your friend, (Z S), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 21:09 (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^
also interested if there are/if anyone's heard any new stuff; i have a tape of him playing with the heliocentrics, playing yekermo sew & the old stuff, which kills. i don't totally rate afro-latin soul, certainly compared to mulatu of ethiopia - it's nice but some's a lil neat or elevator-y.

yeah. sometimes i play Afro-Latin Soul when people are over for dinner who don't actually care much about music, whereas if someone's over that is down with some psych jamz obviously you're going to reach for Mulatu of Ethiopia. (not to demean Afro-Latin Soul - i like it a lot!)

sure yeah. more red wine? SOME DOROTHY ASHBY PERHAPS?
& yeah it's nice i just don't play it so much. the other one's so sui generis. hey here is a mulatu fact that i probably learned from ILX: apparently (i wouldn't have heard it) yekermo sew is minor-key take on song for my father by horace silver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLdm1yuoU_Q

I'm not sure if they're still up there but there were a few live sets put up on Dime over the last couple of years.. great stuff.

I remember listening to the Mulatu sequences in Broken Flowers (mostly taken from Ethiopiques 4) and suddenly having an overpowering urge to smoke pot, which I don't even do.

But yeah, this guy's great. Really dig the Heliocentrics album from a couple years back.

There wasn't a Mulatu Astatke thread before? Madness!

Of his older material get Mulatu of Ethiopia. And from 2005 get the Mulatu Astatke Ep.

when you're done with MA try and get the first 2 budos band records. they're basically a mulatu tribute band, but as far as carbon copies go these guys are pretty decent updating the funkiest side of mulatu (yekermo sew, yegelle tezeta et al)

the Mulatu Astatke Ep.

oh shit yeah!, i forgot all about this. it has my fav mulatu jam, which i've forgotten the name of but which might be emnete. it's like an overloaded ike turner instrumental.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GUun0KnZic

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-browse.php?search=%2BMulatu+%2BAstatke&cat=0&incldead=1&searchscope=

hopefully that works if you have a dime account there's 4 seeded torrents that are specifically him, 1 dead but still on the tracker and a couple of related ones

Thanks for the replies - I'll definitely be checking out more by him. I can't believe how fresh this compilation sounds.

Anyone else hear vague echoes in the Beastie's/Money Mark output (can't think there are any direct samples)?

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/11/22/on-sketches-of-ethiopia-mulatu-astatke-draws-a-map-larger-than-his-homeland

Ah, I see he has a new one out

Anyone seen Astatke live? He's playing Montreal in May, but I only know his older stuff

saw him many years ago; he was solid then

thanks man, I also looked up some youtube clips and they were great. Ethiopiques 4 is an all-time classic record for me, so I'm not sure why I even hesitated

The show last night was fantastic! I've always been hesitant to see legacy acts, but this made me rethink that--so powerful to hear these songs I've been listening to for about 15 years played with spontaneity and tons of energy (his touring band, none of whose names I caught, are all great).

Touring North America now in 2024 at age 80

Sold out two nights in Berkeley last week. Went in night two; it was incredible. He was also one of the last shows we saw before the pandemic; like, a week before shutdowns I think.

I am going to go see him on second of 2 nights at the Howard Theatre in Washington DC. Somehow have never seen him before

Good range of his releases on Bandcamp---this one, with the international group Black Jesus Experience, was Top Ten for me in 2020:
https://mulatuastatkeblackjesusexperience.bandcamp.com/album/to-know-without-knowing

a whole thread and no mention of my favourite, i.e. his collab album with the heliocentrics :

https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/inspiration-information-3

Really dig the Heliocentrics album from a couple years back.

― Everything You Like Sucks, Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:49 PM (eleven years ago)

that's the only album of his I actually own a physical copy of (only because it's the only one I've run across)

Saw Astatke and band last night at the Howard Theatre. Good show . He mostly played vibes , but played his snares some , and did a few songs on organ. The organ ones sounded great. The band was strong and helped convey Astatke’s arrangements and the brilliance of his Ethiopian meets Coltrane and Jimmy Smith and Afro-Latin and funk sound