The very veteran Mulatu Astatke is the father of Ethio-jazz, a vision of the genre that is nourished by its roots in Africa and the author's transit through cities like Boston, New York or London, where he has resided throughout his more than fifty-year career. His music was for years one of the best kept secrets for the West, until restless record collectors discovered him and filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and musicians like Nas, Damian Marley and Kanye West are demanding, whether it was with the inclusion of his music in soundtracks or with samples of some of his compositions. He 1 February 2009 gave a concert at the Luckman Auditorium in Los Angeles with a band that included jazz musicians such as Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence and Phil Ranelin, and that gave rise to one of his emblematic recordings, the album Timeless, recently reissued. He is a legend in life, to their 80 extraordinarily led years.
