After releasing his first studio album for over 20 years, Mulatu Steps Ahead, Strut’s Quinton Scott catches up with Ethio jazz legend Mulatu Astatke in Addis.
QS: You had to cancel some European shows last month. How are you?
MA: I’m OK, thank you. I had a bit of a health setback but took some time to relax and look after myself back home for several weeks. I feel a lot better.
QS: What projects have you been involved with since the release of ‘Mulatu Steps Ahead’?
MA: My main commitment has been a soundtrack to a new film called ‘Lalumbe’ – I am still in the studio working on this. It is being produced by an Ethiopian company and it is all about Ethiopian culture, specifically a tribe called the Hamer from the South-West of the country. I am composing and arranging the soundtrack. As well as featuring the tribe’s own traditional music, I am creating some new fusions with new arrangements of their music and am adding the incidental sounds for the film, backgrounds and textures using horns and a rhythm section. It’s a really nice project.
QS: And do you ever perform live in Addis?
MA: I do occasional concerts, yes. I have a big event at the National Theatre in Addis on 20th September which will be a mix of film and live music. We will be giving a taste of my new opera on film and will be screening some of Jim Jarmusch’s film Broken Flowers, for which I contributed the soundtrack. I will then play a live set.
QS: You have a new opera planned?
MA: Yes, this is a project I have wanted to do for many years, to work with a choir from the ancient Ethiopian Coptic church and arrange their music in a unique way. Many of the musical traditions of our church pre-date classical music by many many years: the use of a conducting stick, a cross, to conduct the choir, and a type of drum that is an ancestor of the classical kettle drum. I want to highlight how Ethiopia has contributed to the world’s music history and this is also a very rich project musically for me. I have approached the church elders respectfully to ask for their co-operation and the priests have been very welcoming and open to the idea. It is a slow process because they are busy people and I have to catch them at the right time.
QS: You mentioned recently that you had re-built your African Jazz Village education centre. Is that now active?
MA: I’m still working on it with architects to complete areas of construction and build an amphitheatre and a cinema house but the school is now open and we have 60 to 70 students there now. We have set up the programme in two parts: we invite parents to bring any children who have shown an interest in music to attend introduction sessions. After that, the serious students progress to our jazz diploma which runs for two years.
QS: Since the release of Mulatu Steps Ahead, you have played some dates with your new band. How do the concerts differ from the shows you have done with The Heliocentrics?
MA: It is a different kind of band. The Heliocentrics play a heavy groove and I have enjoyed touring with them immensely. We always click so well. The new band are also all great musicians and have taken the sound wider – we play more acoustic tracks alongside the uptempo compositions like ‘Yekermo Sew’ that people know. It has allowed me to bring in to the show some of the more subtle music from Mulatu Steps Ahead and some of my older jazz melodies like Girl From Addis Ababa.
QS: You played in Australia for the first time in June too. How did that go?
MA: Really very well. Myself and James Arben from my UK band went out there and we played with an Australian group called Black Jesus Experience for some shows. We had a very nice time, great crowds, and we are going back for more dates later this year.
QS: Are you touring again beyond that this year?
MA: Yes, we are playing dates in South Africa in early September, then Australia, then The Barbican in London on 29th. I think we play Russia and Scandinavia in October and November, and then an event called All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK in December.
QS: And do you have any plans for a new album any time soon?
MA: I have started writing tracks for a new album. It is at an early stage – I like to write and reflect on ideas and add to them over time. It’s a gradual process.
QS: Thanks Mulatu and we look forward to seeing you here in the UK at The Barbican on 29th September
MA: Thank you so much. I really look forward to seeing you there too.
For more Mulatu, watch the clip below:
2 Comments
Great interview, so lucky to have stumble on his music by way of “Distant Relatives”
MUCH LOVE and RASpect
Mulatu your music is a blessing from above!