Back in 2007, The Heliocentrics released their extraordinary debut album Out There. In it, the London collective successfully wove a kaleidoscopic tapestry of proto-funk, psychedelic jazz, simmering ...

Nearly 50 years ago, a bright-eyed Ethiopian teen arrived in Wrexham, a county borough in the northeastern part of Wales. His parents had sent him nearly 4,000 miles from home to attend a renowned ...

The Heliocentrics is a London based music collective breaking boundaries between funk, rock, electronic, ethnic traditions, and experimental music. The Heliocentrics’ debut album, Out There (2007) ...

This UK-based funk ensemble took its name from a Sun Ra album. One listen to A World Of Masks and you'll hear why. Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you ...

Mulatu Astatke experienced his musical conversion as a teenager while supposedly studying engineering abroad, mastering piano, vibraphone and Latin percussion in London, Boston and New York. After he ...

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Danger Mouse is at his most Rawkus on "Chase Me," shockingly. Credit: 30th Century Records ...

Mulatu Astatke, having waited 40 years for the international acclaim he now has, seemed perfectly happy to be just a modest contributor to the dense widescreen sound created by the 11-piece line-up of ...

It’s easy to see why Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz, and the London-based Heliocentrics hit it off from the moment they met. The 68-year-old Astatke has spent his life developing new and ...