Mulatu Astatke Receives French National Order Of Arts and Letters Award

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The famous Ethiopian musician and father of Ethio-Jazz, Mulatu Astatke, has been awarded the French National Order of Arts and Letters.

The visiting French Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, presented the award to Mulatu at a ceremony held in Addis Ababa today.

The French Minister tweeted that “Few artists are to embody in the eyes of the world a musical genre so strongly rooted in a national culture. Mulatu Astatke is one of them.”

Born in the city of Jimma, Oromia regional state, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music.

Source: afro105fm.com