Washingtonian
Admas’s “Sons of Ethiopia”: How a Great Lost Album Is Finding New Fans: Copies were going for $400 on eBay. “We just kind of forgot about it,” says one member of the band.
Tewodros Aklilu had basically forgotten about the album that he and some friends self-released back when he was a young man living in DC in the ’80s. He didn’t realize that the super-obscure record, Sons of Ethiopia, had somehow found a following among collectors, who paid big money for rare copies. And he had no clue that a Danish guy named Andreas Vingaard, who lives in New York and runs a tiny reissue label, had become fascinated by the album and wanted to bring it to a new audience.
So when Aklilu heard from Vingaard on Facebook one day, he was more or less flabbergasted. “It was completely unexpected,” says Aklilu, talking on the phone from Addis Ababa, where he has lived for the last decade after spending 40 years in the US. “I had no clue. Zero.” Now Vingaard’s label, Frederiksberg Records, has released Sons of Ethiopia as a lovingly packaged vinyl reissue, complete with elaborate liner notes.
In the early ’80s, the band—known as Admas—played weekend gigs at Red Sea restaurant in Adams Morgan, setting up after the dinner rush and performing sweaty sets that went until 2 or 3 in the morning. Core members Aklilu, Abegasu Shiota, Henock Temesgen, and Yosef Tesfaye were mostly just having fun. “There was no career ambition, really, at that time,” says Aklilu, who back then was a full-time student at George Washington University and worked as a parking-lot attendant. “Everybody was doing something else. Being a musician was not rewarding financially. Our parents were discouraging us from doing it. So that’s what we were facing. But the audience was beautiful. It was a packed house.”
A synth-heavy mix of jazz, funk, Ethiopian music, reggae, and other sounds, Sons of Ethiopia came about by happenstance. Shiota wanted to learn about music production, so he rented a four-track tape recorder to play around with. “We had no intention of making an album,” says Aklilu. “We were experimenting, recording every day. And after about eight songs, we said, ‘We have an LP!’ We checked how we could make a record, and it was easier than we thought. So we went for it.”
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DC: Admas Band’s 1984 Album ‘Sons of Ethiopia’ Being Reissued For The First Time This Summer
Emerging from members of the Ethiopian community in Washington D.C. Admas was comprised Tewodros ‘Teddy’ Aklilu, Henock Temesgen, and Abegasu Shiota. (The Vinyl Factory)
Admas weave Ethiopian pop with soul on 1984 LP Sons of Ethiopia: A Sonic Time Capsule From Washington D.C.’s Ethiopian Expat Community
Admas’ 1984 album Sons of Ethiopia is being reissued for the first time, via Frederiksberg Records this July.
Emerging from members of the Ethiopian community in Washington D.C. who fled to escape the violence of the Derg regime, Admas was comprised Tewodros ‘Teddy’ Aklilu, Henock Temesgen, and Abegasu Shiota.
Taking up a residency at D.C.’s Red Sea restaurant during the early ’80s, Admas drew on the diverse sounds of the city for Sons of Ethiopia, alongside Ethiopian pop music, and elements of soul, jazz, highlife, samba and roots reggae.
Frederiksberg Records’ release of Sons of Ethiopia marks the album’s first reissue, and includes interviews with Admas alongside previously unpublished photographs.
Head here to pre-order a copy in advance of Admas’s 27th July reissue, check out the artwork and tracklist below.
Tracklist:
1. Anchi Bale Game
2. Bahta’s Highlife
3. Tez Alegn Yetintu
4. Kalatashew Waga
5. Wed Enate
6. Samba Shegitu
7. Astawesalehu
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Related
In 1984, these D.C. Ethiopian expats made a truly rare record. Now the world can hear it.