Mulatu Astatke

"The Father of Ethio-Jazz" on the Moods stage! Mulatu Astatke is one of Africa's most influential musicians. As a teenager he left his homeland to study music in London, New York and Boston as one of the first African students. He was particularly fond of jazz and Latin American rhythms. Back in Addis Ababa, he combined these influences with traditional Ethiopian music and Afro-funk, and in short invented a new musical style: Ethio-Jazz. With the military coup of 1974, popular music was declared undesirable in Ethiopia and he disappeared from the scene. But at the latest since its prominent representation in the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's film "Broken Flowers", Ethio-Jazz is back in the consciousness of many music enthusiasts.