in west africa, fela kuti went to school in london, came to the states and heard funk, returned to nigeria, mixed highlife, juju and funk and created afrobeat.
in east africa mulatu astatke went to school in london, came to the states and heard jazz, funk, latin music, returned to ethiopia and mixed jazz, funk and ethiopian pentatonic scales to create ethiojazz. both men are giants of modern western based music on the continent, although astatke is little known outside ethiopia, except to fans of the ethiopiques series. mulatu astatke is getting a little recognition (ny times, reg. req'd) via the jim jarmusch film broken flowers, that features his music prominently in the film. very cool.
Posted by kamau at October 13, 2005 11:16 PM