Mulatu & The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information

Mulatu es un gigante de la música moderna. Empezó a conocérsele en los años 60 por su fusión del jazz y el funk con la música tradicional etíope, basada en melodías populares compuestas en la escala pentatónica (cinco tonos) y mezclados con elementos de la antigua iglesia copta.

The Heliocentrics son un colectivo con base en Londres que se unieron no sólo a Astatke, sino a un grupo de músicos etíopes también residentes en la capital británica: Yezina Nagash, Mesafnit Nagash y Dawit Gebreab, que aportaron los sonidos tradicionales de instrumentos como el Krar (arpa de 4 ó 5 cuerdas), Washint (flauta de bambú), Begena (arpa del siglo XV de 10 cuerdas) o el Masenko o Masengo cuyo nombre da título a la canción que abre el disco y que he insertado arriba como presentación. La mayor parte de la grabación se llevó a cabo en los Estudios Quatermass.

Mulatu Astatke (surname also spelled Astatqé) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger. He is known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in 1943 in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African student at Berklee College of Music. He would later combine his jazz and Latin music influences with traditional Ethiopian music.

He has worked with many influential jazz artists such as Duke Ellington during the 1970s. After meeting the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra in Addis Ababa in 2004, Mulatu began a collaboration with the band which continues today, with the most recent performances in Scandinavia in summer 2006 & London, New York, Germany, Holland, Glastonbury (UK), Dublin and Toronto in summer 2008. In the autumn of 2008, he collaborated with London-based Psyche-Jazz collective, The Heliocentrics on an album 'Inspiration Information Vol. 3' which included re-workings of his earlier Ethio-Jazz classics with new material by The Heliocentrics and himself. Mulatu's signature instrument is the vibraphone.







01- Masengo
02- Cha Cha
03- Addis Black Widow
04- Mulatu
05- Blue Nile
06- Esketa Dance
07- Chik Chikka
08- Live From Tigre Lounge
09- Chinese New Year
10- Phantom Of The Panther
11- Dewel
12- Fire In The Zoo
13- An Epic Story
14- Anglo Ethio Suite

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