Mulatu Astatke Plays Ethio-Jazz...

Many years ago I, like so many other music geeks, ordered vinyl records by mail. We didn't order them from a website. We ordered them by phone or by mail directly from the supplier. That's how I obtained this record. At one time I ordered regularly from Cadence Records in Redwood, N.Y. They has a sale on the PolJazz Records label and I ordered a bunch of them, knowing only one or two of the musicians cited. Mulatu Astatke was not one of them...

Sidetrack: My buddy Aidian and I made a trip to the Cadence Barn once, while on the way to a Syracuse University football game. We had to call in advance to book an appointment. We were given a series of directions/instructions which we were given and told to follow closely. When we arrived in Redwood we immediately got lost. We went into the Redwood Post Office to get directions figuring that would be the logical place to find someone who would know the "lay of the land". WRONG! They had no idea who or what Cadence was or where they were. We did eventually find our way there and spent an eye-opening afternoon with the amazing crew that runs the place.

The album is made up of five tunes on side A and four tunes on side B. The playlist is:

A1 - Addis Abba 3:20

2. - Gambrella 4:00

3. - Motherland 5:55

4. - Kulun Manqualesh 3:00

5. - Cruisin' "J" Town 3:55

B1 - Tizita 6:06

2. - Chic-Chica 5:20

3. - Yelb Lie Isat 4:00

4. - Lent 6:00

Enjoy!