Ethiopia: Mulatu Astatke announces farewell tour with new album

The new album, Mulatu Plays Mulatu, presents fresh arrangements of Astatke’s classic compositions, revisiting the distinctive fusion of Ethiopian traditional instruments and Western jazz forms that defined his pioneering sound in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Released through Strut Records, the recording features contributions from his long-standing UK band, musicians from his Jazz Village club in Addis Ababa, and guest artists including Carlos Niño and Kibrom Birhane. It was recorded between London and Addis Ababa and mixed by Isabel Gracefield and Dexter Story.

“Ethio-jazz brings us together and makes us one,” Astatke said. “This album is the culmination of my work bringing this music to the world and pays respect to our unsung heroes, the original musical scientists in Ethiopia who gave us our cultural music.”

Strut Records added: “Bridging continents and generations throughout his 50-year career, Mulatu now offers an invitation to hear his music again with a completely fresh perspective. Ethio-jazz, like its creator, is always in motion.”

The album reimagines works such as Yekermo Sew, Netsanet and Kulun, presented here with expanded textures and big-band interpretations. The artwork was created by Ethiopian artist Wendimagegn Belete, with photography by Alexis Maryon.

The farewell tour, running from 7 September to 16 November 2025, includes performances in Poland, Germany, the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy and Norway. Astatke has already appeared at Les Nuits de Fourvière in Lyon earlier this year, and the tour also highlights his recent collaborative album Tension with Tel Aviv’s Hoodna Orchestra.

Born in Jimma in 1943, Astatke initially travelled to the UK to study engineering but soon shifted to music, training at Trinity College of Music in London before further studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His early recordings in New York combined Latin jazz with Ethiopian scales, eventually leading to the development of Ethio-jazz.

During the 1970s, he recorded influential works including Mulatu of Ethiopia (1972) and Yekatit Ethio Jazz (1974), and collaborated with leading Ethiopian singers such as Mahmoud Ahmed. He also performed with Duke Ellington’s orchestra during its historic 1973 visit to Addis Ababa.

Although political upheavals in Ethiopia curtailed parts of his career, Astatke’s music was revived internationally in the 1990s through the Éthiopiques reissue series, which introduced his work to a new global audience. His compositions later featured in film, radio and hip-hop, sampled by artists including Nas, Damian Marley and Kanye West.

Over the years, he collaborated with ensembles such as the Either Orchestra, The Heliocentrics, and Black Jesus Experience, while also serving in academic roles at Harvard University and MIT, where he worked on modernising traditional Ethiopian instruments. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music.

At the age of 81, Astatke’s farewell tour represents both a celebration of his achievements and an opportunity for audiences to reconnect with his influential body of work.