During the second half of the 20th century, cosmopolitan Ethiopians were delighted to see jazz giant Duke Ellington receive their country’s Medal of Honor from Emperor Haile Selassie. At the same time ...

You’d expect a conversation with Mulatu Astatke to be about music. He is, after all, the father of a musical genre: Ethio-jazz. But when he talks about the art form, he tends to focus on its ...

Left: Ayalew Mesfin [Photo by Hannah Brooks]. Right: Hailu Mergia [Photo courtesy of the artist] For many people outside of the Habesha community, their first experience with Ethiopian music came from ...

ADDIS ABABA, April 30 (Reuters) - Young Ethiopians packed into the compound of the Swedish embassy in Addis Ababa on Saturday night to savour an "Ethio Jazz" performance, an annual festival that ...

Today, Oakland musician Meklit‘s third album, When The People Move The Music Moves Too, comes out, featuring an upbeat, swirling mix of soul, pop, and Ethiopian jazz. Produced by multiple Grammy Award ...

Samuel Yirga is a pianist from Ethiopia. A 20-something prodigy, Yirga is too young to have experienced the Ethio-jazz movement of the early 1970s, but he has absorbed its music deeply — and plenty ...

TO WESTERN EARS, the music seems both foreign and familiar. Its mood stretches from sultry and haunting to upbeat and vibrant. Soulful Western undertones are audible, yet the overall impression is ...

Vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke is the creator of Ethio-jazz and reputedly the first African musician to study at Berklee. Prior to that he had studied music in Wales and London. Whilst in ...

“Ethiopian jazz giant Mulatu Astatke has been honored by the world-renowned Berklee College of Music. Mulatu, often dubbed as the father of Ethiopian jazz, was presented honorary doctor of music ...