Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and composer who was pivotal in the formation Ethiopian Jazz.

Mulatu moved to Wales in the 1950s to initially study engineering but, instead, ended up completing a musical degree at the Trinity College of Music in London before going on to Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. During this time he recorded his debut albums 'Afro-Latin Soul, Volumes 1 & 2' which were an experimentation in Latin jazz. His style evolved into what became known as Ethio-jazz when he released 'Mulatu of Ethiopia' (1972).

In 2005, Mulatu's music was used in Jim Jarmusch's film 'Broken Flowers', bringing Ethio-jazz to western audiences. His work has also been sampled by Kanye West, Nas and Damian Marley. Mulatu has collaborated and performed with The Either/Orchestra and The Heliocentrics, with whom he worked on the album 'Inspiration Information Vol. 3' (2008) and in 2015 teamed up with Black Jesus Experience on their album 'Cradle of Humanity'.