Mozambique to Yiddishland: Klezmer and Afro-pop with Nat Seelen and Albino Mbie

About

What happens when two friends from different cultures, languages, and parts of the world meet to share their music? Join clarinetist Nat Seelen of Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band and Mozambican guitarist/vocalist Albino Mbie to find out. Albino Mbie is a multi-award–winning musician, guitarist, singer, composer, sound engineer, music producer, and Berklee professor. He was born in Kumakwane District, Bairro George Dimitrov, well-known as Benfica, in the suburbs of Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, a country in Southern Africa known for its rich musical and cultural heritage. Fueled by the resourcefulness and determination that have always characterized Mozambicans, he built his first guitar at age 15 from a five-liter can of oil, scrap wood, and strings made from electrical cords. He moved to the U.S. to attend Berklee in 2009, being among the first Africans awarded a full-tuition scholarship via the Berklee African Scholars Program. In 2013, he graduated with a dual major in music production and engineering and guitar performance with dual minors in acoustics and electronics. Since then, he has shared his Mozambican roots—music, dance, culture, and native languages enriched by the experience of living and studying in the U.S.—with the rest of the world. During these years, he learned to combine rhythmic patterns and musical concepts to create a unique marrabenta, Afro-pop, and Mozambique jazz sound. His passion for travel, discovery, experimentation, and being an active touring musician has allowed him to share the stage with godfathers of American jazz such as Wayne Shorter, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, and more, as well as African giants such as Richard Bona, Jimmy Dludlu, Mulatu Astatke, and many more. Nat Seelen is a Boston-based clarinetist, composer, and educator whose work explores the intersections of tradition, innovation, and community in klezmer music and beyond. A dynamic performer and creator, he is the founder and artistic director of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music, a concert series that has presented over 180 artists and reached thousands of audience members with original, culturally rooted music since its inception in 2021. As a performer, Seelen is a founding member of the internationally recognized Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band, winners of awards at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, Brazil’s Bubbe Awards, and more. With Ezekiel’s Wheels and other ensembles, he has performed at major venues including the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood Music Center, and Jordan Hall, and internationally in China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, and Canada. Seelen is also the creator of New Klezmer Studios, an innovative remote learning initiative that has taught klezmer music to students on five continents, including musicians from top institutions like Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Berklee, and Oberlin. He is a teaching artist with Arts for Learning Massachusetts and has given workshops, masterclasses, and lectures at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, University of Connecticut, Tufts University, and many more. In 2025, Seelen joined the faculty at New England Conservatory teaching klezmer music. As a composer, Seelen’s recent works include 56 New Klezmer Tunes for Dancing (2023), Gathering Sparks (2022), and Di Khassene (2021), a multimedia song cycle created during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a recipient of grants and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, CJP Arts & Culture Fund, NEFA, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.