Liner Notes for Mulatu Plays Mulatu
The music of Dr. Mulatu Astatke has long been a profound influence on my artistic and intellectual journey. My introduction to his work came through the late Lesanu “Sonny” Abegaze and bandleader Todd Simon in the early 2010s. Immersed in the process of transcribing and arranging Astatke’s compositions for the Los Angeles-based ensemble Ethio Cali, I found my musicianship transformed and my life’s direction irrevocably altered. Ethio Jazz became— and remains—an enduring aspiration.
In an effort to deepen my understanding, I explored Astatke’s early recordings on Worthy, Amha, and Phillips, as well as his later contributions to the Éthiopiques series, particularly noted for its broader global reception following Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005). His subsequent works on Jazz Village and Strut Records further expanded my appreciation. Determined to grasp his aesthetic philosophy, I sought out every available interview, dissecting his references and influences. A pivotal moment arrived when I encountered a paper by Professor Ezra Abate of the Yared School of Music, which prompted an intensive study of the indigenous qenet (ቅኝት) modal system—an essential key to Astatke’s compositional approach.
These explorations informed my own work, culminating in two Soundway Records albums where I experimented with the sonic architecture pioneered by Astatke and its broader resonances. Field research trips to Ethiopia allowed me to hear this music in situ and experience firsthand Dr. Astatke’s nightly performances at his African Jazz Village Club in Addis Ababa’s Ghion Hotel. In 2017, I formally entered the Ethnomusicology graduate program at UCLA, framing his innovations in Ethio Jazz as part of a larger musical and sociopolitical revolution in the Horn of Africa. More recently, I have critiqued the historiography of Ethio Jazz, interrogating its reception history and Astatke’s corpus in the context of African American and Afro-Caribbean musical genealogies, work I presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology’s annual meeting.
Thus, when my brother and longtime collaborator, musician and producer Carlos Niño, introduced me to Strut Records executives Quinton Scott and Heather Sheret with the opportunity to produce Mulatu Plays Mulatu, I approached the task with humility and reverence. The project’s framework—to reimagine Astatke’s classic compositions with his London-based ensemble alongside guest Ethiopian musicians—aligned with his enduring pursuit of a modern-traditional hybridized sound.
I conceived the title Mulatu Plays Mulatu while alone in my London hotel room, mindful of the long lineage of master musicians—Duke Ellington, who famously jammed with Astatke in 1973 during a landmark U.S. State Department tour stop in Addis Ababa, and Thelonious Monk among them—who returned to their own compositions later in life, not to repeat themselves, but to carve fresh paths through familiar terrain. I also understood the risks: these kinds of projects are too often miscategorized, their subtleties overlooked, their contributions shelved in the discount bin of popular memory. That the title resonated with both Astatke and the Strut Records team felt like a divine moment of alignment. In shaping the sessions, I drew on Quincy Jones’ belief that records are ultimately about capturing magic—those spirit-filled, fleeting and unscripted moments when something transcendent happens. At the same time, I entered the process with shoshin, the Zen Buddhist notion of beginner’s mind—an intentional posture of openness, curiosity, and unknowing.
Upon arriving in London, I attended Astatke’s performance at Strut’s anniversary celebration at the Jazz Café. This provided a rare vantage point to observe the ensemble’s musical cohesion in a live setting—critical preparation for the recording sessions that followed. My mind raced back to all the encounters with Astatke’s music, my cherished vinyl collection, the countless times I have seen him perform live and on and on. The approach during the rehearsals was to simply listen deeply and remain open, trusting that the maestro required only that I bring my full, attentive self to the process.
Astatke—affectionately known as Gashe Mulatu—arrived at Rak Studios the following day, commanding the session with an understated authority borne of decades of lived experience in London, New York, and Addis Ababa. Our lead engineer, Isabel Gracefield, was chosen for her expertise in capturing large ensembles and orchestral nuance. We kept the tape rolling continuously, attentive not only to the music but to the subtleties of Astatke’s verbal and non-verbal communication. The ensemble—under the direction of musical director and saxophonist James Arben, along with trumpeter Byron Wallen and other outstanding musicians—gradually found its voice within the maestro’s vision. Familiar songs such as “Yekermew Sew,” “Netsanet” and “Kulun” showed signs of new life. My dear friend and longtime Tizita radio DJ host Rani de Leon visited the studio and assured me that we were on to something. After several productive days, we began to envision the next phase: capturing the soundscape of Ethiopia itself.
Traveling to Addis Ababa with recording gear in hand, I rejoined Astatke at the African Jazz Village to track indigenous instrumentalists specializing in the begena, massenqo, krar, kebero, and washint. After reviewing the London recordings together, we carefully mapped where these traditional sounds would be layered. Despite limited time to review the previously recorded sessions, the Ethiopian musicians demonstrated extraordinary mastery, intuitively complementing the London ensemble’s foundation. Further, recording in African Jazz Village was an honor and privilege given the club’s long legacy of concerts and recordings. If those walls could talk...
Throughout this process, Mulatu Astatke’s leadership remained quietly assured; he listened intently, offered precise direction, and maintained an unwavering focus on the realization of his sonic vision. Our relationship gradually expanded. Additionally serving as recording engineer during these sessions allowed me a privileged proximity to his creative process. I began to hear what he was hearing, to envision what he envisioned, even understand who this man had been for his artistic associates Tilahun Gessesse, Girma Beyene, Teshome Meteku, Hailu Mergia, The Wallias Band, and many others.
The project took its final shape through an iterative transatlantic mixing process between Los Angeles and London. Isabel and I exchanged preliminary mixes before convening again in London for final sessions. Her openness to collaboration allowed us to fine-tune the album’s textures and balance, culminating in what I believe to be a revitalized engagement with Astatke’s repertoire. It is my sincere hope that Mulatu Plays Mulatu rekindles listeners’ appreciation for the enduring genius of Dr. Mulatu Astatke. May this album serve not only as a tribute but also as an invitation to hear anew the intricate dialogues between past and future, tradition and innovation, that his music so eloquently sustains. With gratitude... Dexter Story
