The collaboration between the pioneer of Ethio-Jazz, Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics, was a dream project for Folded Wing and Karen personally. After meeting Mulatu in 2007, Karen & Folded Wing, with the support of the Red Bull Music Academy, were able to secure his first UK performance for 15 years for ‘Broad Casting’ at Cargo.

Mulatu needed a band to support him and Karen put him in touch with The Heliocentrics. The sold out show was a huge success and generated a wealth of incredible audio content for Red Bull Music Academy Radio. Karen also managed to line up a Worldwide Maida Vale session for Mulatu with her old colleague Gilles Peterson for BBC Radio 1.

Even more excitingly a one-off recording project was then signed to the Strut imprint on !K7, who drafted Karen in to help A&R the album. The result was the award-winning ‘Inspiration Information’ record.

Last but not least, Folded Wing were commissioned to make a short podcast documenting the collaboration. Featuring interviews with Mulatu, Gilles Peterson, Quinton Scott (Strut) and our very own Karen P, it’s a lovely behind-the-scenes look at this amazing collaborative project.

LINKS

Watch the Mulatu & The Heliocentrics Documentary >
Mulatu & The Heliocentrics Live at ‘Broad Casting’ >

DOWNLOAD

Download the Inspiration Information Podcast >