Dr Mulatu Astatke, father of Ethio-jazz

The best and the last

HBy Cezary Owerkowicz

e is the best, always, since a long time, sometimes for many reasons. These days also because is the last. Many times because he was the first, but from time to time because he was the only one. However he received the Honorary Doctorate at Berklee College of Music, US because he was in need: old age, no retirement, forgotten.

It was easy to come face to face with such a fate for artist, especially under certain circumstances, political, historical, trends, personal. One of his talented colleague musicians, organ player, for 30 years was working as a taxi driver in Washington, DC and – passed away. ‘Talent to be lucky’ is not so common even among people who are ‘lucky to have talent’. Fascinated ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’ says the English proverb and it is true. Mulatu ‘in need’ had two great friends who decided to help him, not to retire but come back to the glory, e.g. to the stage. One of them was French Francis Falceto, musicologist and collector, fascinated of Ethiopian music and since the 1990s re-edited the old records as ‘Ethiopiques’.

He remained to the West such personalities as saxophonist Getatchew Merkurya, vocalist Mahmoud Ahmed and the best of their multi-instrumentalist, Mulatu Astatke. News about value of the project woke up the interest between collectors and musicians (as Elvis Costello and Robert Plant) and on such wave of interest there was a chance to lift Mulatu again onto the stages of the United States.

One of the concerts was attended by well known film director and lover of music, Jim Jarmusch. He was just working on a new movie, Broken Flowers with Billy Murray. Jim was so much impressed that he decided to add to the script the role of Ethiopian immigrant, only like a pretext to use in soundtrack Ethiojazz.

Who was and who is Mulatu Astatke. He was born in 1943 in Jimma city in Western Ethiopia. In the 1950s three colleagues, youngsters from Kingdom of Emperor Haile Selassie went to the UK to study. Felu Kuti liked medicine while Hugh Masekela was escapee from apartheid, Mulatu Astatke became an aviation engineer. All became musicians. Mulatu landed at Lindisfarne College, transferred already to Wales province because of debts. However Mulatu says: it was one of the best in the UK with wonderful teachers!’ Today he is the most famous student of the centenary history of the school.

Owerkowicz

Parades

In Walsh school one of facultative subject was military band under former military teacher. He suggested a trumpet. All three started from it. Brass bands were just trendy in Ethiopia because Haile Selassie liked military parades and orchestras very much (even brass was never present in traditional music there). Mulatu was – the first because – the best; so much that changed aviation ambitions for London Trinity College of Music. Country needed scientist but “I succeeded to convince my family that I am better in music.”

In London a young Ethiopian met the love of his life – jazz. London was (and is) full of jazz. Many jazzman were immigrants from Africa but there was nobody from Ethiopia. Astatke was the first, than the best. He dropped trumpet for clarinet and piano. ‘It was an important stage, piano gave me a chance to interest of harmony, remembers the musician. “I acquainted with diminished scale, used in jazz, used by Debussy but also Charles Parker. However it looked for me quite familiar.”

More, Astatke became a fan of harmony at that scale and soon discover the reason. In his native country using pentatonic scale is popular, based on five sounds. It is widely popular in many kinds of folk music, even so far from Ethiopia as between Polish mountaineers. That scale is a secret of mystery, insinuation and melancholy of Ethiopian melodies.

Mulatu says: ‘In my native region one tribe has survived, Dirashe, the only one among eighty different ethnic group existing in Ethiopia, used almost only pentatonic scale in diminished version, used also in jazz. More, their rhythmic ideas were forward than those implemented after years to jazz by Parker!’ He loves to talk about it on every occasion.

He followed Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in many clubs concert, he danced salsa but his dream through years was to do fusion of jazz and music from East Africa. In the United States he was the first (‘the best’) African student accepted at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. His choice started to be vibraphone, which was like a close cousin rooted in African tradition ‘balaphone’.

When later he came back to Ethiopia with vibraphone people were laughing and started wondering. They had also a problem at the beginning to understand jazzy harmonies but soon they started to cope... Also soon they got the taste of jazz, swing, joy of it, established clubs with music, started record discs and brought records from outside.

Mulatu established his The Ethiopian Quintet and began to record his music in America. He was again ‘the best’ and the only one Ethiopian in his band, Other musicians were of Latin origin. Why? He was surprised how much Cuban music reminds him of African music. His two discs recorded and edited in 1966, in New York City, he named ‘Afro-Latin Soul’ and started to play and record his version of ‘ethio-jazz, melting elements of Ethiopian music and those discovered in America. Maybe the top of his earlier career in States was tour with Duke Ellington band as a special guest and records of Mulatu of Ethiopia music from 1972.

Revolutions

Revolutions and other social earthquakes don’t’ mind about individuals and their passions. Ethiopian revolution in 1974 overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie, his court but also many things, including jazz clubs and limited demand for entertainment. Astatke says laughingly: ‘It’s known that the communists like mass activities: choirs, parades, flags…’ He became popular among ‘socialist camp’ international cultural exchange: he was good and known that he became ‘a good commodity’ to present to comrades of ‘brotherhood countries’. Then he toured the socialist camps and started to be quite popular there. However Astatku and his music were largely forgotten outside his homeland (except ‘socialist camp’).

After every fire life starts to restart, even it takes time and is not easy. Friends from both sides of Atlantic Ocean remembered the talented musician from Ethiopia and made efforts to find and bring him back to the lights. The first was French Francis Falceto, the most efficient – Jim Jarmusch and success of his movie Broken Flowers.

In London Astatke started to record with local band of young jazzmen The Heliocentrics, in Boston he established acoustic formation and recorded with them album Mulatu Stepes Ahead. This autumn they visit Europe and play during Festivals. Most of them are pedagogues of Berklee College of Music. At that school he studied music and in 2012 he received the Honorary Doctorate.

Also in Addis Ababa he is described as ‘Dr Mulatu Astatke, Father of Ethopian Jazz’. At that Ethiopian capital at last he opened The African Jazz Village, club at the renowned Ghion Hotel, which already existed there in the 1950s.

Astatke says proudly ‘It is my club!’ in the States. He came back to native Berklee College and was awarded by grant at the Harvard University commissioning composing ‘The Yared Opera’, based on discovered music notes from Ethiopian Orthodox Church from the 4th century BC!

Except for this he makes studies on local version of lyre – ‘krar’. ‘I think musicians are close to scientists. Subjects of their studies simply are sound, counterpoint, scales’. He travels with his music from Europe up to Australia and New Zealand.

He is smiling and happy. He plays. Sometimes it happens like this: ‘flowers’ are broken but life assembles back’. That sounds optimistic.