Modern Ethiopian big band orchestra music finds its unlikely origins in the royal adoption of 40 Jerusalem orphans of the Armenian Genocide by Emperor Haile Selassie. Their presence as the first royal imperial band would make way for the composed music of Ethiopia's first national anthem, the popularization of brass instruments, and in later decades, a jazz revolution that sweeps the country before descending into the throes of the communist Derg regime. Told through first-hand accounts with Ethiopian jazz greats such as Alemayehu Eshete, Mulatu Astatke, Girum Mezmur, as well as Sammy Yirga and while following Vahé, the only performing Armenian singer / musician in Addis Ababa, TEZETA opens the musical door to a light of memories of a jazz club, a beloved teacher, and a golden musical era forgotten by many.
The film documents the filmmakers' travels to Ethiopia to learn more about its rich history, which serves as the underpinnings for a contemporary cultural tapestry that interweaves the very old and the very new. It is a visual poem evoking a nuanced narrative portrait of this incredible place. Putting form to tension between history and contemporary life, the film relies on strong, timeless imagery, layered sound design and driving music to create an immersive experience.
Thursday 27th of October 2016 – Teatro Espace, Turin. Mulatu Astatke is a musician, composer, arranger and Ethiopia’s cultural ambassador. He’s known as the godfather of ethiojazz, a unique blend of jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, latin, caribbean reggae and afrofunk. Born in 1943 in Jimma, Mulatu studied music not only in Ethiopia but also in UK and USA. In 2005 he contributed to the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch’s film “Broken Flowers”, reaching a new public worldwide.
Ethiopian musician (piano, organ, vibraphone, and percussion), composer, and arranger Mulatu Astatke (the name is spelled Astatqé on his French releases) is a household name in his native country, where he is known as the father of Ethio-jazz, a unique blend of pop, modern jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, Latin rhythms, Caribbean reggae, and Afro-funk. After developing his sound in the U.S. with a pair of highly influential mid-'60s releases, he spent much of the '70s expanding the boundaries of Ethiopian music by collaborating both home and abroad with artists like Mahmoud Ahmed and Duke Ellington and releasing critically acclaimed music on Amha Eshete's Amha Records. His popularity enjoyed a renaissance in Western culture in the mid-2000s after his music was used in Jim Jarmusch's film Broken Flowers. Mulatu continued to evolve creatively well into the 2010s, and has maintained long-term collaborations with a number of acts, including Boston's Either/Orchestra, London band the Heliocentrics, and Australia's Black Jesus Experience. Mulatu's work brought a renewed focus on instrumentation and rhythm to Ethiopian pop music, shepherding in a golden age in that country's pop and jazz circles from 1968 to 1974. He went on to found a music school and open his own club, while staying active as an arranger, advisor, and DJ. In 2004 he met the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra and formed a long-running collaboration with the band. The inclusion of his songs on the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers introduced Mulatu to a whole new audience, and his increasing influence on Western music could be heard in hip-hop acts like Quantic, Nas, Madlib, and Kanye West, who have all sampled his music. - by Steve Leggett
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