MULATU ASTATKE

28th Valencia Jazz Festival

MULATU ASTATKE
Farewell tour

The legendary Mulatu Astatke is the father of Ethio-jazz, a unique vision of the genre rooted in Africa and shaped by his time spent in cities like Boston, New York, and London, where he has lived during his more than fifty-year career. For years, his music remained one of the best-kept secrets in the West, until curious record collectors discovered him and filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and musicians such as Nas, Damian Marley, and Kanye West brought him into the spotlight—either by including his music in soundtracks or sampling some of his compositions. On February 1, 2009, he performed a concert at the Luckman Auditorium in Los Angeles with a band that included jazz musicians like Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, and Phil Ranelin, which led to one of his iconic recordings: the album Timeless, recently reissued. He is a true living legend—remarkably vital at the age of 78.