Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Overdue homage to Mulatu Astake
Kuchiye: March 8, 2006Bold
kuchiye@gmail.com


I grew up swinging to the tunes of Tilahun Gessesse, Alemayehu Eshete, and Bizuneh Bekele (as arranged by musical geniuses like Sahle Degago). The Degago era took strong elements of Ethiopian music and gave it international flavor; most notably far-eastern as the Imperial Guard was heavily influenced by far eastern music when it served in the Korean War.

The nature of the music in the 50s and 60s called for significant instrumental input. In other words, the louder the instrument the better. We enjoyed the Saxophone as much as we enjoyed the singer but at later years man and instrument competed against one another so much that we started leaving concerts with serious headaches.

Out of nowhere (actually I think from England), surfaces a person by the name of Mulatu Astatke. He was a God-sent; the right person at the right time for by then Ethiopian music was in real bad shape. The greats like Sahle Degago had retired or passed away and there was no musical godfather left to fill the vacuum. It was also time for Ethiopian music to get a shot in the arm, to move to the next level, to add new and fresh flavors in order to meet the changing taste of people and time. In short, Ethiopian music was yearning for a renaissance.

I remember like it was yesterday when Mulatu first appeared on Ethiopian TV attired in Harambee shirt, surrounded by African/Caribbean drums and funky xylophone, totally strange equipments in the Ethiopian musical landscape. As much as I wanted to consider myself receptive to new ideas, I was kind of skeptical towards his attempt of fusing the tunes that I grew up listening to with African/Caribbean/Jazz flavors.

My fear and initial skepticism quickly evaporated for the guy instantly proved to his audience that his compositions were well thought after, that he was very sensitive to the preservation of the innate virtues of Ethiopian musical traditions, and that he, as a matter of fact, was actually going to acquaint us with our own tunes to which we had very little or no exposure. Along came the incredible beats and costumes from Wollaita, Gofa, Janjero and many others. He proved to us that man and instrument don’t have to compete against one another and that they can actually work in harmony complementing each other’s role. With great humility and skill, he integrated musical geniuses like Tilahun Gessese into the new era of music. He encouraged and tutored young musicians who started to adopt Mulatu’s creative ways adding their own twists. This one man took Ethiopian music to new highs, to greater sophistication.

I have no doubt that Mulatu Astatke is a household name in Ethiopia as he is in the musical circles of London. I do not, however, believe that we have a full understanding of his legacy and the impact he made on the Ethiopian musical landscape. His worth as a musical personality of global proportion is demonstrated once again in his being selected to provide funky sound track for the currently popular movie “Broken Flower” featuring mega actors like Sharon Stone and Bill Murray.

Way to go Mulatu! We are ever indebted to you!