Mulatu Steps Ahead

One of last year's best releases was Strut's release of retrospective works by Ethio jazz legend Mulatu Astatke titled "New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975". I featured this amazing record in a post at the beginning of the new year (Read the Blog Post The Story of Ethio Jazz). Mulatu and the Strut label are back at it again in 2010, this time with the first solo record from the artist in over 20 years, titled Mulatu Steps Ahead. For the record, Mulatu did release a collaborative with The Heliocentrics as part of Strut's Inspiration Information series. On Mulatu Steps Ahead however, the father of Ethio jazz returns with a solid new effort that sounds like it could have been released around Mulatu's recording prime during the early to mid seventies. Mulatu combines some new songs like "Green Africa", "Radcliffe", "The Way To Nice", and "Assosa" with some new renditions of Mulatu classics including "Boogaloo" and "I Faram Gami I Faram". Overall, Mulatu Steps Ahead is a solid new record that I highly recommend checking out, especially if you have enjoyed the legendary artist's earlier releases from the late sixties and early to mid seventies. The only thing I can hope for now is a new batch of tour dates that take him to the west coast. Until then, I will be satisfied enjoying his new masterpiece.

Mulatu Astatke - Green Africa



Mulat Astatke's new album Mulatu Steps Ahead comes out March 30. Learn More about the record at www.mulatu-steps-ahead.com/.