Month: February 2017

Jazz is a wildly syncretic music, blending musical traditions from a large geographical and cultural range. I think this explains its power open doorways of participation between disparate cultures (a power shared today by hip hop). The music of Mulatu Astatke, called the father of Ethio Jazz, is both accessible to American audiences and distinct from American jazz. The compositions on this album are not at all a mere imitation of western chord theory and improvisational styles but an attempt to bring an American music into communication with Ethiopian tradition. It works beautifully.

Here is a video I have watched several times recently of Oscar Peterson, one of the most prominent jazz piano figures of the mid-late 20th century, giving an interview about his influences. I thought it was really insightful to hear Peterson himself deconstruct his style, as well as talk about about the style of others while providing examples on the piano. I always wonder what is going on the minds of some of these outrageously skilled musicians, and this video shined some light on that.