MOG Editorial Review

The master of Ethiopian jazz has gained an audience in the states over the past decade thanks to various hip-hop samples and heavy rotation in the film Broken Flowers, and this compilation of his golden era work is the best introduction you'll find to Mulatu Astatke. Adding an Afrobeat influence to jazz, Astatke's work grooves in a way few American jazz artists ever could, combining smooth keyboards and lively horns on tracks like "Yekermo Sew" and "Yegelle Tezeta." While collections of his work are few and far between still, Ethiopiques Volume 4 is all the evidence you need to agree that Astatke is one jazz's under-appreciated greats.