If you want to listen to Mulatu, start with this one! This is Mulatu Astatke's career masterpiece and the most important album in the history of Ethiopian jazz!
This album was released in 1974 on Amha Records in his native Ethiopia after he returned from the US. It remains a shining milestone not only in Mulatu's career but also in the history of modern Ethiopian music.
The album features a miraculous balance of ethnic, nostalgic melodies played by brass instruments, a thick, surging polyrhythmic rhythm section, seductive vibraphones, smoky Rhodes and organ sounds, and a modal jazz sound inherited from the United States that permeates the entire album. This album is undoubtedly a masterpiece that reigns supreme at the pinnacle of Ethiopian jazz, and an ambitious work that unleashes Mulatu's talent for achieving a new sound. The tracks "Yekermo Sew" and "Gubelye," which were featured in the film "Broken Flowers," are also irresistible!
