New York - Addis - London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975

by Mulatu Astatke

I just realized the other day that I have been playing the hell out of this cd since December, but I never wrote about how much I love it.  I first heard of Mulatu Astatke through his work with the Heliocentrics on the Inspiration Information project, and when I saw this compilation of his work from the 60s and 70s, I was intrigued.

This stuff is brilliant!  This cd holds twenty tracks highlighting the best of Astatke's career as a jazz musician from Ethiopia.  He has composed and arranged most of the music here, and himself plays the vibraphone, conga, and other percussion instruments.  His brand of jazz marries African influences with the mainstream jazz of the era, and sometimes sounds a little Latin.

Listening to this the first time through, I was amused to hear on 'Lanchi Biye' the opening to K'naan's 'America'.  I'm surprised more people haven't sampled from Astatke's oeuvre, as it fits perfectly a number of artists' styles.  This is now one of my all-time favourite cds, and I can't encourage people to sample it enough.