Sketches of Ethiopia is a studio album by Ethiopian musician, composer, and arranger Mulatu Astatke, (considered as the father of "Ethio-Jazz"). It was released in 2013 through Jazz Village. It peaked at number 24 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. On Sketches of Ethiopia, Mulatu Astatke is backed by Steps Ahead Band, which is not related to the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead. As with his last album Mulatu Steps Ahead (2010), Ethiopian instruments such as the washint, the krar, and the masinko are also used in the album. The album's opening track is a rendition of "Azmari", which was written by Russ Gershon. The album's closing track is "Surma", a collaboration with the Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, who co-wrote the song with Astatke. Sketches of Ethiopia is Astatke's first internationally distributed studio album. IYKYK.... The album is brand new and in the original packaging. (Never Opened) I bought two originally and never opened the second one.