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.