Mulatu Astatke music in Jim Jarmusch movie
kidinquisitive
1,627 Posts
So it seems Mulatu's music will feature promimently in the new Jim Jarmusch film "Broken Flowers" starring Bill Murray. Can't wait to see it.On defining "Broken Flowers'" through its music:"Music often leads me. I discovered Mulatu Astatke's music maybe seven years ago, and I was blown away by a few things I found that he had recorded in the late sixties. I was on a hunt for a number of years: I bought some vinyl; some of his jazz stuff; some Latin jazz recorded in the states; other Ethiopian stuff. And then I was like, "Oh, man, how can I get this music in a film? It's so beautiful and score-like." Then when I was writing, I was like, "Well, this neighbor [Jeffrey Wright] is Ethiopian-American, I can turn him on to the music."
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Watch out for the huge Mulatu project that's been set up by Soundway Records! In short there'll be a Mulatu Retrospective CD out first, then new recordings and a concert at Addis follow late September/October, to be released early 2006. Included in the new recordings are: Mulatu Astatq??, Will 'Quantic' Holland, Max Weissenfeldt (drums, Poets Of Rhythm), Todd Simon (trumpet, Breakastra and many others), Showboy (Egypt 80 horn player) and a whole lot of Ethiopian musicians. Young and old.
On board as well on the artistic, journalistic tip: Monk One from Wax Poetics, LA based artist B+ (involved in Keepintime project) and Gilles Peterson is to do a documentary and record some radio bits.
All of this came about when Will Holland chatted with Miles Cleret from Soundway who's without doubt the man who deserves the most props (together with 'Ethiopiques' compiler Francis Falceto of course).
Looking forward!
music is solid in all his films. ntm roles for tom waits, john lurie, iggy pop, RZA, GZA, Joe Strummer, Screamin Jay etc...
you owe it to your self to wathc more. i'd say his films have progressed since the first one. exception being coffee and cigarettes and night on earth.
Ghost Dog is his best IMO. ANd the starnger than paradise
what did you think of dead man?
i liked it. existential western. great score by neil young.
It was one of those movies that I couldnt really form an opinion on. When it was over it didnt really stick with me. I never really thought about it again untill now. I did like the score though.
i felt the same the first time i saw it and then my second time - i got a lot more out of it.
other than night on earth and year of the crazy horse (i think you have to be a die-hard neil young fan to really like that one) - dude can do wrong by me.
one of my favorite films. easily
one of his worst. surry.
Dead Man rules, his one bonafide classic.
Anyone else have the records Jarmusch made? I like em.
If it were not for Symon Warwick their meeting might never have happened!
It's funy to think they lived in the same city(brighton) and never crossed paths...
This project is gonna be amazing!
I agree on the Ghost Dog comment. It didn't suck, but once was enough. I think my expectations were a little high. Forest as a big city Samuri with a RZA soundtrack? I thought I was going to go bannanas, but I think over all I'm just a little underwelmed by Jarmusch's style. It's still good. I actually liked coffee and cigs, but as stated it's not a movie. You have to go into that one knowing it's a bunch of shorts and some of them are going to be clunkers, but the good ones are worth it. But I still want to see flowers.
Night on Earth is embarrassing if only for the terrible Winona scene, and several other boring vignettes. I love Stranger than Paradise, Dead Man, Ghost Dog. Down By Law is OK too, but never really grabbed me. Better in theory than in actual practice.
"Ethiopian sounds are good for the heart, mon."