Mulatu Astatke

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Mulatu Astatke was born in Jimma in Ethiopia and went to England as a teenager to study. He learned music in London and then went to Berklee in Boston. In New York he played with Latin musicians and in 1966 made Afro-Latin Soul. In the late 1960s he returned to Addis Ababa, where, amid the flourishing scene of clubs and orchestras, he developed his Ethio-jazz, with vibraphone, congas and Ethiopian scales. After the revolution of 1974 he was almost forgotten abroad. Thanks to the Éthiopiques series and the film Broken Flowers (2005) he gained a new audience. In 2009 he recorded with the British group The Heliocentrics.

Listening

• 
  Tezeta · Mulatu Astatke, 1972
• 
  Yègellé Tezeta · Mulatu Astatke, 1969
• 
  Mulatu · Mulatu Astatke, 1972
• 
  Yèkèrmo Sèw · Mulatu Astatke, 1969

Discography

Studio albums

• 1972Mulatu of Ethiopia
• 1974Ethio Jazz
• 1992Addis 1988
• 1994Assiyo Bellema
• 2000Memories
• 2009Inspiration Information, Volume 3
• 2010Mulatu Steps Ahead
• 2010Timeless Mulatu Astatke
• 2013Sketches of Ethiopia
• 2016Cradle of Humanity
• 2019Mummer Love
• 2020To Know Without Knowing
• 2024Tension
• 2025Mulatu Plays Mulatu

Other work

• 1966Afro-Latin Soul
• 1969–1974Éthiopiques, Vol. 4 (opnamen)
• 2009Inspiration Information · with The Heliocentrics

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Jazz Map^NL Map
• After Hours: Session 3^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Ethio-jazz GenreEthio-jazz is the name that the vibraphonist and arranger Mulatu Astatke gave to his blend of Ethiopian music, jazz and Latin.

See also

• Sketches of Ethiopia
• Latin jazz