Southbank Centre Welcomes A Singer You Might Not Realise You Know — londonist.com

When thieving megastars ride to chart success sampling another musician’s work, the latter is often overlooked. Mulatu Astatke is one such artist, and there’s a good chance you’ll have heard some of his music without realising it. This is criminal, because the ‘father of Ethio-jazz’ (believe us, we don’t like that term any more than you do) should by rights be lauded as more than just the creator of a remarkable fusion of jazz, soul and funk with east African roots. Last year the Ethiopia-born, Trinity College-trained musician, now in his 70s, finally got around to releasing an album internationally (in your own time Mulatu) entitled Sketches of Ethiopia. And it’s fair to say it’s been reviewed rather favourably.

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