Ethio-jazz

Ethio-jazz is a blend of jazz music with traditional Ethiopian music, combining the pentatonic scale-based melodies of Ethiopian music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of Western jazz music. Other elements in this genre include Afrofunk, soul, and Latin rhythms. The genre originated in the 1950s with Armenian musician Nerses Nalbandian, who created a fusion of Ethiopian and Western music while working at the National Theatre. Ethio-jazz was revolutionized by Mulatu Astatke in the late 1950s. Astatke is considered the father of Ethio-jazz music.

Not to be confused with Ethno-jazz.
Ethio-jazz
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins1950s
Typical instruments

Characteristics

Ethio-jazz is an improvised version of jazz involving Ethiopian traditional music, and also some elements of Afrofunk, soul and Latin rhythms.[1]

History

Nerses Nalbandian

The origin of Ethio-jazz can be traced to the 1950s with Nerses Nalbandian, a musician of Armenian descent whose family migrated to Ethiopia in 1915.[2] Nalbandian became the leader of Ethiopia's National Opera after his uncle, Kervok Nalbandian, retired.[1] When Emperor Haile Selassie commissioned Nalbandian to compose music for the Ethiopian National Theatre, he created a fusion of traditional Ethiopian music and Western instrumentation. This was considered the basis of the evolution of Ethio-jazz music.[1]

Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke is considered the father of Ethio-jazz music

Multi-instrumentalist Mulatu Astatke has been considered the father of Ethio-jazz.[3][4] He was born in 1943 in Jimma and developed an interest in music while studying aeronautical engineering in Wales.[1] He went on to pursue a formal education in music at Holy Trinity College in London. Astatke was interested in promoting traditional Ethiopian music to Western audiences. Beginning in 1958, he also studied jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, he successfully combined Ethiopian music with Western jazz and rhythms, conceiving "Ethio-jazz".[1]

List of musicians


References
  1. Diarra, Lilian (2014-03-21). "Ethio-Jazz: The Amazing Story Behind Ethiopian Jazz". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  2. "Ethio-jazz is a product of migration and heroic ingenuity". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  3. Monitor, Ethiopian (2022-05-02). "Artist Mulatu Keen on fusing Ethio-Jazz with Turkish Music". Ethiopian Monitor. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  4. "Mulatu Astatke - Ethio Jazz". Light In The Attic Records. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
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