Mulatu Astatqé (also spelled
Mulatu Astatke; Amharic:
ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ) is an
Ethiopian musician and arranger. He is known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in 1943 in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African student at Berklee College of Music. He would later combine his
jazz and
Latin music influences with traditional Ethiopian music. He has worked with many influential jazz artists such as Duke Ellington during the 1970s. After meeting the Massachusetts-based Either Orchestra in Addis Ababa in …
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