Mulatu Astatke (VERPLAATST) ^VERPLAATST

The artist has taken this decision after consultation with his team, as he is still recovering fully and wants to provide all his fans with a show of the best possible quality. In addition, the shows moved to the September tour will be very special, as they will be part of the artist's farewell tour, culminating in a new album to be announced early March.

All tickets purchased so far remain valid for the new dates and do not need to be exchanged in any way. For all those who cannot attend the new dates, it is possible to request a refund directly at the point of purchase.

We want to thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Mulatu Astatke (born 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger, best known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian town of Jimma, Mulatu studied in London, New York City, and Boston, where he combined his interests in jazz and Latin American music with traditional Ethiopian music. He became the first African student to enroll at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received an honorary degree in 2012. Astatke leads his band playing vibraphone and congas—instruments he introduced to Ethiopian popular music—along with other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organ. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music, and Astatke appears on all three of the well-known instrumental albums released during Ethiopia's Golden Years of the 1970s.

He has collaborated with many notable artists in both countries, arranging and playing on recordings by Mahmoud Ahmed, and appearing as a special guest with Duke Ellington during a 1973 tour of Ethiopia. Samples of Astatke's songs have also been used extensively by hip-hop artists, including in the works of Nas, Damian Marley, Kanye West, Cut Chemist, and Knaan. He toured with the American band Either/Orchestra in 2006, recorded an album with the Heliocentrics in 2008, and completed a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship at Harvard University, where he worked on modernizations of traditional Ethiopian instruments and premiered part of a new opera, The Yared Opera.