Mulatu Steps Ahead
A looser, more improvisational record made mainly in Boston with the Either/Orchestra.
Mulatu Astatke, 2010
- Released
- March 2010
- Label
- Strut
- Type
- album
The album was recorded mainly in Boston with members of the Either/Orchestra, with extra parts added in London and Addis Ababa. Radcliffe was written for his Harvard fellowship. London sessions brought in James Arben, Byron Wallen, cellist Dan Keane and the kora player Kadialy Kouyate.
Tangari of Pitchfork reviewed it on 29 March 2010. He found it looser and more improvisational than the structured and stately music of his past, described Radcliffe as an ambient opener, and noted that Mulatu's Mood gives solos to bass sax and kora. He liked the new version of I Faram Gami I Faram, with Ethiopian melismatic lead singing and salsa backing vocals, better than the 1966 original. Songlines gave it four out of five.
Track listing
- Radcliffe
- Green Africa
- The Way to Nice
- Assosa
- I Faram Gami I Faram
- Mulatu's Mood
- Ethio Blues
- Boogaloo
- Motherland
- Derashe
Personnel
- Mulatu Astatke vibraphone, arrangements
- Russ Gershon tenor and soprano saxophone
- Joel Yennior trombone, horn voicings
- James Arben saxophone, flute, oboe
- Byron Wallen trumpet
- Dan Keane cello
- Kadialy Kouyate kora
More from Mulatu Astatke
Afro-Latin Soul (1966), Ethiopian Modern Instrumentals Hits (1972), Mulatu of Ethiopia (1972), Yekatit Ethio Jazz (1974), Éthiopiques 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale 1969-1974 (1998), New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (2009), Sketches of Ethiopia (2013)
Sources
- Mulatu Steps Ahead, Discogs
- Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu Steps Ahead, Pitchfork (2010-03-29)
- Mulatu Steps Ahead, Songlines (2010-06)