‘Give respect to Africa and the bush people’: Mulatu Astatke on pioneering Ethio-jazz and honouring his roots

The multi-instrumentalist faced resistance when he premiered his sound in the 60s but audiences have fallen in love with it since. Now aged 82, he’s still finding new directions – and wants recognition for Africa’s indigenous artists “Do you know the Metro club?” I feign recognition to the 82-year-old father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, who knows the UK capital’s vanished haunts better than I do (the Soho venue closed down decades ago). By then, he had immersed himself in the city’s 60s jazz scene, befriending Ronnie Scott and the saxophonist Joe Harriott, with whom he occasionally jamm

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