Astatke, Mulatu
Yegele Tezeta/yekatit
Mulatu is an Ethiopian born instrumentalist, composer and arranger extraordinaire. Schooled in the UK and then the USA, Mulatu fuses jazz, latin and traditional Ethiopian styles to create a unique sound, most commonly referred to as Ethio-jazz. Over the past decade years he has gained much exposure via the 'Ethiopiques' series, a collaboration project with the Heliocentrics, and through the inclusion of 'Yegele Tezeta' in the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch's film 'Broken Flowers'. 'Yegele Tezeta' is a low slung, mysterious organ led groover, with building, layered horns a sampled by Nas & Damian Marley on 'As We Enter', released in 2010. Originally appeared on the legendary 'Ethiopian Modern Instrumentals Hits' compilation album from Ethiopia in 1974, of which six out of ten tracks were by Mulatu. It was also released on an Amha 7", that is very tough to find. 'Yekatit' originally appeared on the also legendary 'Ethio Jazz' album by Mulatu that changes hands for $1000's, released in Ethiopia. Typically Ethiopian horn line, about as classic as it gets.