Godfather of Ethiopian jazz plays his last live concert

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 5 min read 100% complete December 28, 2025 at 01:00 AM

AI Summary

long article 5 min

Ethiopian jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, 82, performed his final live concert in London last month after a six-decade career. Astatke is credited with creating Ethio-jazz, a blend of Ethiopian musical traditions and jazz. He gained wider recognition in the 2000s after his music was featured in the film *Broken Flowers*, and again more recently with its inclusion in *Nickel Boys*. Astatke's last performance featured his signature vibraphone and incorporated elements of Ethiopian Orthodox church music, showcasing the unique pentatonic scale that defines his sound. While Astatke did not comment on his feelings about retiring from live performance, fellow musician Dexter Story expressed sadness, acknowledging Astatke's significant influence on music worldwide.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Juweria Dino 30% United States 30% Dexter Story 40% Afework Tekle 40% BBC Africa 50% London ×260% Ethiopia ×370% Mulatu Astatke ×6100%

Keywords

mulatu astatke 100% ethiopian jazz 100% final live concert 90% ethio-jazz 80% musical styles 60% ethiopian music 50% vibraphone 50% musical heritage 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Positive

Score: 0.40

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Ethiopia

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

mulatu astatke ethiopian jazz final live concert ethio-jazz musical styles ethiopian music vibraphone musical heritage

Explore Full Topic Graph