Mulatu Astatke: A Foreign (Funky) Jazz

Ethiopia holds an interesting place in western culture. The East African nation, while remaining deep in political and religious upheaval over the past few decades, is somehow one of the more visible and inviting places on the continent. Perhaps due to the fact that it neighbors Egypt to the south and sits on the same snatch of waterway that’s been contested during the various Middle East skirmishes over the years, but who knows?

Apart from its locale, during the ‘60s, the nations then-leader, Haile Selassie, visited Jamaica. The Emperor’s renown preceded him as he was the first (and probably only) black dude that a Pope has ever bowed to. That lone – and important fact – propelled the spread of Rastafarianism, which postulates that Selassie was the latest incarnation of G-d on earth.

Regardless of those religious tenets, the Emperor’s eventually ouster by a military committee called the Derg led to years of oppression and (further) famine for the nation.

Prior to this upheaval, Mulatu Astatke, went abroad to study music in London. The pianist and vibes player was apparently the first Ethiopian musician trained outside of the country. And subsequent to his studies in the UK, Astatke high tailed it to New York where an emergent Latin music scene was to influence his own sense of rhythm and melodic figuring. “I Faram Gami I Faram,” included on the early career retrospective entitled The Story of Ethio Jazz (1965-1975), includes quick step piano playing and enough hand drumming to make the song sound as if it was coming outta some window in Spanish Harlem. Of course, inherent in the song is still its African heritage. The call and response vocals point to that fact pretty blatantly. In a song that clocks in at just around two minutes, it’s astounding that Astatke was able to cram so many disparate influences into one track.

Heading again to the road, Astatke eventually wound up studying at Berklee College in Boston, one of the most prestigious music schools in the States, if not the world. Cultivating a broad palate of musical interests, Astatke moved back to Ethiopia. As a result of his new found knowledge of world musics and his devotion to traditional Ethiopian stuffs, Astatke rounded up a cohort of open minded players and worked to insert as much James Brown and jazz into his native music as possible. It worked pretty well.

Having relatively recently been anthologized as a part of the Ethiopiques series, Astatke found himself in international favor and performing with acts like Either/Orchestra. But considering the fact that the musician performed with Duke Ellington during a trip the bandleader took to Ethiopia during the ‘70s, there’s really no way that Astatke’s been a wide eyed fan of his high profile enthusiasts.

That being said, The Story of Ethio Jazz (1965-1975) has again pushed the multi talented performer into the spotlight. Astatke’s not going to wind up some local jazz station, but the amalgamation of sounds that he was able to work during the ‘70s has ingratiated the performer to an entirely new group of fans.