Most of us don’t think of music as a science. Mulatu Astatke, the Ethiopian vibraphonist who created the style known as “Ethio-jazz,” says he’s never thought of his invention as anything else. “I’ve ...
TO WESTERN EARS, the music seems both foreign and familiar. Its mood stretches from sultry and haunting to upbeat and vibrant. Soulful Western undertones are audible, yet the overall impression is ...
Ethio-jazz was the thrilling sound of 1960s and ’70s Ethiopia, blending traditional music with funk and soul before a dictatorship killed off the genre. Now, it's making a comeback. Ethiopia’s jazzmen ...
The multi-instrumentalist faced resistance when he premiered his sound in the 60s but audiences have fallen in love with it since. Now aged 82, he’s still finding new directions – and wants ...
ADDIS ABABA, April 30 (Reuters) - Young Ethiopians packed into the compound of the Swedish embassy in Addis Ababa on Saturday night to savour an "Ethio Jazz" performance, an annual festival that ...
Podcaster, storyteller, and Ethio-jazz musician Meklit Hadero stops by for a stimulating chat ahead of the LA edition of her acclaimed show “Movement LIVE.” Podcaster, storyteller, and Ethio-jazz ...
If only one name comes to mind when you think of Ethio-jazz, it’s almost certainly that of Mulatu Astatke. A vibraphone and percussion virtuoso, Mulatu has also been prolific on the keys, releasing ...
During the second half of the 20th century, cosmopolitan Ethiopians were delighted to see jazz giant Duke Ellington receive their country’s Medal of Honor from Emperor Haile Selassie. At the same time ...
On Nov. 9, around 200 people packed into the Signet Society for the second annual Ethio-Jazz Soiree, hosted and organized by Harvard’s Eritrean and Ethiopian Students Association (EESA). Enlivened ...
Terms like Ethio-jazz and Ethio-groove seem common currency today even in the most vaguely world-inflected corners of the music market. We hear the familiar pentatonic modes, laid-back keys and vibes, ...
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