Digital Premiere—Mulatu Astatke in The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, composer and multi-instrumentalist Mulatu Astatke rose to international fame in the 1970s and 1980s with his unique mix of American jazz and Ethiopian music, drawing comparisons to jazz giants Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.

Mulatu Astatke, vibraphone, percussion, and keyboard
James Arben, musical director, saxophonist, and flute
Adam O’Farrill, trumpet
Jason Lindner, keyboard
Tal Mashiach, bass
Daniel Freedman, drum

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, composer and multi-instrumentalist Mulatu Astatke rose to international fame in the 1970s and 1980s with his unique mix of American jazz and Ethiopian music, drawing comparisons to jazz giants Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Forced off the road for a time due to the political situation in his homeland, he came roaring back in the 1990s, recording and touring as never before.

Astatke’s music begins and ends with improvisation and is the product of fearless experimentation. Experience the sounds, rhythms, and textures of this pioneer of Ethiopian jazz in The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing in a performance recorded on September 9, 2016, that "JazzTimes" called “a spirited and entrancing set that spanned his career and spotlighted his gift for shifting fluidly between intricate, sinuous melodies and airy, atmospheric grooves.”

Presented in collaboration with World Music Institute.

Photo by Stephanie Berger.

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDlz9C2bhSW6dcVn_PO5mYw?sub_confirmation=1

#TheMet #Art #TheMetropolitanMuseumofArt #Museum

© 2021 The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Cover of "Dan Burley's Original Handbook of Harlem Jive" shows a stylized person in a plaid suit and hat, set against bold, vintage typography.
Discover the foundational history of jive culture in the United States as a form of expression.
Brent Hayes Edwards
July 18
A blue and red stained-glass window nestled between rectangular stones.
Michael Gordon’s new work animates spaces across The Met Cloisters with percussive sound.
Emery Kerekes
July 2
Porcelain figurine depicting an 18th-century scene with a servant holding a tray of cups and a seated aristocratic woman in floral attire, against a blue background.
How did eighteenth-century European art subtly obscure Black labor and promote subjection?
Adrienne L. Childs
July 1
More in:Africa in FocusBlack HistoryMusicPerformance