E4 EZ EE THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,AUGUST 2 , 2020
in neighboring nightclubs.They
heardfunkandelectro on the
radio. They soakedupjazzat
BluesAlleyand the Saloon in
Georgetown.It was asecondedu-
cation.
Havingfullyimmersedthem-
selves in the soundsoftheir new
home,the foursome —keyboard-
istAklilu,multi-instrumentalist
AbegasuShiota, bassist-guitarist
HenockTemesgen and drummer
YousefTesfaye —started scram-
bling genresunder anew name.
As Admas, theycaptured their
experimentswithafour-track
cassetterecorder,and theirmu-
sic beganto movein disparate
directionsatdifferent speeds.
Remember,thiswas the ’80s,
so someof the band’s synthesizer
tones might soundtartto21st-
centuryears, but keep listening
and it wearsoff:“Anchi Bale
Gane” feelslikeamidnight stroll
throughanotherworld,withlit-
tle fireworks of guitarandkey-
board fizzingin the atmosphere
overhead. “Tez AlegnYetintu”(“I
Remember,” in Amharic, rough-
ly) floats offintoazero-gravity
jazz-funk reverie.“Kalatashew
Waga,”the album’s centerpiece
and masterpiece,drives adrum
machine over rumble stripsof
synth-bassinto landscapesun-
known.
After eightmonths of tinker-
ing,Admasbroughtthe “Sons of
Ethiopia” tapes to Ambient Stu-
diosinCollegePark for afinal
mix,thenmailedthe mastersoff
to aplant in Nashville that
pressed 1,000copies. Theband
deliveredoneLPtothe Libraryof
Congress,sold 200orsomore,
and gave the restaway.I
fyou found acopy of “Sonsof
Ethiopia” for afew dollarsat,
say, aflea market on NewYork
AvenueNWumpteen yearsago,
you mayhavefeltatrivial thrill
(original vinyl copieshavesold
for as much as $400online) fol-
lowed by alastingenchantment
(these songs make“rareness” feel
likeamusical quality).
Thealbum’s reissue doesn’t re-
vealtoo muchaboutwhathap-
penedto Admasafter “Sonsof
Ethiopia.”Ashort,incomplete
version:TheDerg was abolished
in 1987; mostofthe band’s mem-
berseventuallyrepatriated,con-
tinuingtheirrespectivemusical
careers in AddisAbaba; some
reunited around2000torecorda
secondAdmasalbumthatmight
be reissued next year.But the
linernotesdohelpto explainhow
andwhythismusicsounds so
singular.
Thefirsthow-and-why has to
do withtechnology. Shiota, the
band’s primarysynthplayer and
de facto producer,had to be re-
sourceful while “bouncing
tracks”on the band’s four-track
machine, arecordingtechnique
that involves funnelingthree
tracksinto one.On “Sonsof Ethi-
opia,”those bounced tracksswirl
the sound,puttingthe elegance
of the band’sarrangements to the
test. Gracefullyperformedand
meticulously recorded,thisis
whythe music’s softly smeared
timbresfeel smoothedandcon-
gealedrather than smudged or
dimmed.
Thealbum’s otherbig how-
and-whyhas to do withhumani-
ty.Thesewerebright, young men
bendingmelancholic,old melo-
diesintofresh,new shapes—and
the album’s closingcut, “Astawe-
salehu,”quietly pushes all of
thosecontraststothe fore.Deliv-
eredas anostalgic call-and-re-
sponse between guestvocalist
SimeonBeyene and theband,
Beyenesingswhatroughlytrans-
lates to, “I remember.” Theband
replies in Amharic, “I will never
forget.”
But even withoutan approxi-
mate translation of thoselyrics,
the recordingcommunicates its
cosmicyearning by submerging
the vocal tracksinagently disori-
enting echoeffect.Five voices
singto each otherinside adream,
acrossoceans, acrosstime.
[email protected]music
FREDERIKSBERGRECORDSBILLO'LEARY/THEWASHINGTONPOSTT
he membersofAdmaswere
borntoo late to contribute
tothe“goldenage” ofEthio-
pian song.Selassie wasover-
thrownby the Dergin ’74, mark-
ing the endof an erainwhich
jazz-mindedmusicians —includ-
ing the legendary vocalistsMah-
moudAhmed and Alemayehu Es-
hete —helped AddisAbabaearn
the nickname“SwingingAddis.”
But accordingto Gooding’sliner
notes, thebrutalityofthe new
regimedidn’t silencethe music
altogether.The Derg“were not
againstmusic,”saysAdmaskey-
boardistTewodrosAklilu. “They
wereagainst Western music.”
In fact, the newgovernment
encouraged youth bandsto form
in urban neighborhoodswiththe
express purposeof performing
propagandasongsthatcelebrat-
ed Ethiopia’snational heritage.
Themembers of Admasconsid-
eredit an education.As adoles-
centslearningtoplaytheir in-
strumentsinstate-sponsored
groups,theywere plungedintoa
deepwell of traditionaland tribal
songs.
Then, in 1977, the Derginitiat-
ed the RedTerror,acampaign of
violenceagainst civiliangroups
competing for control of the
country, andin theyearsthat
followed the members of Admas
fledto Washington. Themusi-
cians,someofwhomwerefriends
from childhood,reassembledin
D.C.inthe early ’80sunderthe
nameGasha, andtookup resi-
dencyatthe RedSea,alively
Ethiopian restaurant in Adams
Morgan.(“Anevening at the Red
Seais somethinglikehavinga
picnicin abusy airport,”Wash-
ington Post foodcritic PhyllisC.
Richmanwrote in 1985.)
ThemembersofGasha played
Ethiopian songs for Ethiopian
crowds,but theirearsstretched
acrossthe city. They heardgo-goADMASFROME1Rediscovering a record by Ethiopian expats in D.C.
BILLO'LEARY/THEWASHINGTONPOSTFROM TOP:
DrummerYousef
Tesfaye,left,
keyboardist
TewodrosAklilu,
bassistHenock
Temesgenand multi-
instrumentalist
Abegasu Shiota of
Admas.The group of
Ethiopianexpatriates
releasedalimited
number of copiesof
“Sons of Ethiopia” in- They captured
theirexperiments
with afour-track
cassette recorder,
specializing in
grooves thatfelt,
among otherthings,
high-tech and low-
budget, andworldly
and local.
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