Soundwalk Collective is an international experimental sound art collective founded in 2001 by Stephan Crasneanscki, who was joined by Simone Merli in 2008. The group is based in Berlin and New York. They have engaged in collaborations with other musicians such as the American singer Patti Smith on the Perfect Vision Trilogy.
15-456: Soundwalk Collective’s musical work emerges from a multidisciplinary approach rooted primarily in psycho- geography and in the exploration of recording and synthesis. Elements of observation of nature, non-linear narrative, ethnography, and anthropology are intertwined in their work. In order to create following this approach they have travelled across the world from cities to remote locations for long periods of investigation and fieldwork to source
30-538: A modern version of the krar , a traditional Ethiopian instrument. On 1 February 2009, Mulatu performed at the Luckman Auditorium in Los Angeles with a band that included Bennie Maupin , Azar Lawrence , and Phil Ranelin . He released a two-disc compilation album to be sold exclusively to passengers of Ethiopian Airlines, with the first disc containing a compilation of styles from different regions of Ethiopia and
45-609: A tour of Ethiopia in 1973. Mulatu recorded Mulatu of Ethiopia (1972) in New York City, but most of his music was released by Amha Eshete's label Amha Records in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia, including several singles, his album Yekatit Ethio Jazz (1974), and six out of the ten tracks on the compilation album Ethiopian Modern Instrumentals Hits . Yekatit Ethio Jazz combined traditional Ethiopian music with American jazz, funk, and soul. By 1975, Amha Records had ceased production after
60-682: Is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of " Ethio-jazz ". Born in Jimma , Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Mulatu led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums —instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organs. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music , and Mulatu appears on all three known albums of instrumentals that were released during
75-655: The Derg military junta forced the label's owner to flee the country. Mulatu remained to play vibes for Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band 's 1977 album Tche Belew (which included "Musicawi Silt") before the Walias also left Ethiopia to tour internationally. On Éthiopiques and the copyright of Francis Falceto (Buda Musique record company), in an interview with Getatchew Mekurya published by Ethiopian Reporter in January 2012 Getatchew Mekurya,
90-594: The Ethiopian Golden Age of Music in 1970s. Mulatu Astatke is of Christian Amhara descent. Mulatu's family sent the young Mulatu to learn engineering in Wales during the late 1950s. Instead, he began his education at Lindisfarne College near Wrexham before earning a degree in music through studies at the Trinity College of Music in London. He collaborated with jazz vocalist and percussionist Frank Holder . In
105-641: The 1960s, Mulatu moved to the United States to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He studied vibraphone and percussion. While living in the U.S., Mulatu became interested in Latin jazz and recorded his first two albums, Afro-Latin Soul, Volumes 1 & 2 , in New York City in 1966. The records prominently feature Mulatu's vibraphone, backed by piano and congas playing Latin rhythms, and were entirely instrumental with
120-527: The Heliocentrics and himself. In 2008, he completed a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship at Harvard University, where he worked on modernization of traditional Ethiopian instruments and premiered a portion of a new opera, The Yared Opera . He served as an Abramowitz Artist-in-Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, giving lectures and workshops and advising MIT Media Lab on creating
135-538: The Horn region, such as K'naan . His Western audience increased when the film Broken Flowers (2005) directed by Jim Jarmusch featured seven of his songs, including one performed by Cambodian-American rock band Dengue Fever . National Public Radio used his instrumentals as beds under or between pieces, notably on the program This American Life . Samples of his were used by Nas , Damian Marley , Kanye West , Cut Chemist , Quantic , Madlib , and Oddisee . After meeting
150-708: The Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra in Addis Ababa in 2004, Mulatu began a collaboration with the band beginning with performances in Scandinavia in summer 2006 and London, New York, Germany, Holland, Glastonbury (UK), Dublin, and Toronto in 2008. In the fall of 2008, he collaborated with the London-based collective The Heliocentrics on the album Inspiration Information Vol. 3 , which included re-workings of his Ethio-jazz classics with new material by
165-699: The early 1990s, many record collectors rediscovered the music of Mulatu Astatke and were combing stashes of vinyl for copies of his '70s releases. In 1998, the Parisian record label Buda Musique began to reissue many of the Amha-era Ethio-jazz recordings on compact disc as part of the series Éthiopiques , and the first of these reissues to be dedicated to a single musician was Éthiopiques Volume 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969–1974 . The album brought Mulatu's music to an international audience. Mulatu's music has had an influence on other musicians from
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#1733094470929180-458: The exception of the song "I Faram Gami I Faram," which was sung in Spanish. In the early 1970s, Mulatu brought his new sound, which he called Ethio-jazz , back to his homeland while continuing to work in the U.S. He 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 and his band during
195-413: The famous Ethiopian jazz saxophonist, says: I think that is one of the reasons why Mulatu Astatke despises Frances Falceto. He does not want to see his face. Even if he was able to contribute to the recognition of our music worldwide, on the other hands he used us. He is making tons of money. I do not work with him; I work with other musicians and promoters and I think he is not happy with that fact. In
210-695: The second consisting of studio originals. On 12 May 2012, he received an honorary doctorate of music from the Berklee College of Music . In 2015, Mulatu began recording with Black Jesus Experience for Cradle of Humanity , which premiered at the Melbourne Jazz Festival in 2016 and was followed by a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Amha Records Amha Records was an Ethiopian record label founded by Amha Eshete. The company released 103 singles and 12 albums between 1969 and 1975 . Prominent singers and musicians who recorded for
225-1497: The unique materials that form the core of their work. Notable Collaborations Since their foundation, Soundwalk Collective have collaborated with numerous musicians including American singer, songwriter and poet Patti Smith, Ethiopian Jazz musician Mulatu Astatke , American photographer Nan Goldin , French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard , minimalist composer, Philip Glass , film director, Abel Ferrera , and French pop singer and actor, Charlotte Gainsbourg . They have also written original scores for contemporary dance choreographer Sasha Waltz . Soundwalk Collective have performed at Opéra de Lyon , CTM Festival, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Barbican Centre , Berghain , Centre Georges Pompidou , Florence Gould Hall , Mobile Art by Zaha Hadid in Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York; MUDAM , MuCEM , Museo Madre, New Museum, The Foundation Carmingac, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Palazzo Reale in Milan, La Triennale, Radialsystem V, documenta14 in Athens and Kassel, Funkhaus in Berlin, Manifesta12 in Palermo. Selection of solo exhibitions: Albums Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Astatke ( Amharic : ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ , romanized : mulatu ästaṭḳe ; French pronunciation: Astatqé ; born 19 December 1943)
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