Mulatu Astatke on NTS

[ejp626]

No idea how long this will be available (it aired Sept. 28, 2025), and Mulatu apparently just recommended the tracks (mostly Ethiopian jazz with some classic Miles Davis and Mary Lou Williams mixed in) and doesn't really chat or provide any commentary.  Still, it is an interesting 1-hour mix that I enjoyed a lot, leading me to a few albums I wasn't aware of.  https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/mulatu-astatke-28th-september-2025

Apparently Mulatu is wrapping up a farewell tour and had a couple of nights in London.  I really hope one of these sets was recorded and will be broadcast later on the BBC, though that seems unlikely. 

I can certainly recommend his latest (final?) album Mulatu Plays Mulatu, available on various streaming sites and Bandcamp: https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/mulatu-plays-mulatu

[kh1958]

https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/tension

This is another good one that is recent.

[Alexander Hawkins]

On 11/22/2025 at 1:42 PM, ejp626 said:

No idea how long this will be available (it aired Sept. 28, 2025), and Mulatu apparently just recommended the tracks (mostly Ethiopian jazz with some classic Miles Davis and Mary Lou Williams mixed in) and doesn't really chat or provide any commentary.  Still, it is an interesting 1-hour mix that I enjoyed a lot, leading me to a few albums I wasn't aware of.  https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/mulatu-astatke-28th-september-2025

Apparently Mulatu is wrapping up a farewell tour and had a couple of nights in London.  I really hope one of these sets was recorded and will be broadcast later on the BBC, though that seems unlikely. 

I can certainly recommend his latest (final?) album Mulatu Plays Mulatu, available on various streaming sites and Bandcamp: https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/mulatu-plays-mulatu

FWIW - we didn't record either night in London (or indeed, any of the farewell tour, as far as I remember). That said, we've done many radio things in the past, including for the BBC, so there's certainly stuff in the archive! The farewell tour was really something - we finished last week in Athens, to a really fantastic audience...the band has been together for essentially 15 years at this point, so it's been a special couple of months!