By Stefano Sita Nne
The past week proved to be an event filled one for us at Ketebul Music. We had the pleasure and honor to host one of Africa’s living music legends: Mulatu Astatke.
Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian jazz musician, who is credited as being the father and founder of Ethio – Jazz. He was the first African to be admitted to Berkley College of Music. In the early 1970s, Astatke brought his new sound, which he called Ethio-jazz, back to his homeland. while continuing to work in the US. He collaborated with many notable artists in both countries, arranging and playing on recordings by Mahmoud Ahmed, and appearing as a special guest with Duke Ellington and his band during a tour of Ethiopia in 1973 (Quoted from Wikipedia).
Following a meeting with Ketebul Music's Executive Director, Tabu Osusa in Johannesburg late last year, Mulatu visited Ketebul Music studios last week and spent time recording material for his upcoming project.
Mulatu spent the time recording and arranging music with the latest addition to the Ketebul Music family, Eddie Grey. This was a collaborative effort where one of the songs with the working title, 'Ethio Kenyan Fusion' also featuring Rapasa on Nyatiti and Rashid Jibril on percussions, with the maestro himself on the piano, and Eddie Grey on the guitar.