Year : 2013/1974
Label : Heavenly Sweetness/Amha Records
Genre : Jazz, World
Style : Soul Jazz, Ethio-Jazz, Afro-Jazz
"Yekatit Ethio-Jazz" was originally released in 1974 on Ethiopian label, Amha Records, bringing together various tracks recorded by Mulatu Astatke from 1969 to 1974 featuring his fellow countryman, the saxophonist Fekade Amde Maskal. Formed at Boston's Berklee College of Music during the sixties, Mulatu Astatke is a multi-instrumentalist, founder of the Ethio-Jazz typical genre, the first to combine traditional ethiopian sound with Jazz & Latin music. Indeed, in 1966, Mulatu & His Quintet have recorded in New York City, two Afro-Cuban Jazz albums (Afro-Latin Soul, Volumes 1 & 2), which lead him to introduce latin & western instruments in the popular Ethiopian music. Mulatu has gained an international recognition many years later, first thanks to the Parisian label Buda Musique, which selected some of his best songs included in the volume 4 from the Éthiopiques compilation series, a volume entirely devoted to him ("Éthiopiques Vol. 4 : Ethio Jazz" & "Musique Instrumentale 1969-1974"). In U.S., three of his compositions including "Yèkèrmo Sèw" and "Gubèlyé" were selected for the "Broken Flowers" original soundtrack in 2005, directed by Jim Jarmusch. At last, various great names of Hip-Hop sampled his songs such as Nas, Cut Chemist from Jurassic 5, Quantic or Madlib. All tracks composed by Mulatu Astatke except "Asmarina" by Fekade Amde Maskal, "Ené Alantchi Alnorem" by Girma Hadgu, the traditionals "Sabyé" & "Gubèlyé".
