Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astatke
ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ
Mulatu Astatke ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ
	Mulatu Astatke performing live at Cosmopolite in Oslo in 2017
Background information
Born	19 December 1943 (age 80); Jimma, Kaffa Province, Ethiopian Empire (now Oromia Region, Ethiopia)
Genres	Ethio-jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician; composer; arranger;
Instruments	Vibraphone; conga drums; percussion; keyboards; organ;
Years active	1963–present

Mulatu Astatke (Amharic: ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ, romanized: mulatu ästaṭḳe; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz".

Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Mulatu led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums—instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organs. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music, and Mulatu appears on all three known albums of instrumentals that were released during the Ethiopian Golden Age of Music in 1970s.^[1]

^ "Lost Funk Masterpieces of Ethiopia". Npr.org. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2018.. Namely, _Ethiopian Modern Instrumentals Hits_ (Amha, 1974), _Yekatit Ethio Jazz_ (Amha, 1974), and _Hailu Mergia and The Band Wallias_ (Ethio Sound Records, 1975).

[npr.org-1] "Lost Funk Masterpieces of Ethiopia". Npr.org. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2018.. Namely, _Ethiopian Modern Instrumentals Hits_ (Amha, 1974), _Yekatit Ethio Jazz_ (Amha, 1974), and _Hailu Mergia and The Band Wallias_ (Ethio Sound Records, 1975).

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