Admas Band

Henock Temesgen and Abegasu Shiota formed Admas (which means "Horizon" in Amharic, the Ethiopian language) in Washington, DC in 1984. ADMAS, initially a backup band, went on to compose, arrange and produce music for most Ethiopian Artists working in the U.S., Europe and Ethiopia. Aster Aweke, world-renowned recording artist, approached Admas to arrange and produce her first two CD’s that were released on Columbia Records.

Admas band members, Henock and Abegasu, are graduates of the distinguished Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ma. Upon graduation, they moved to Manhattan, NY becoming active in the local Jazz and African music scene. Admas toured the United States, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Canada with Ethiopian artists, and played at different festivals, including, The Montreal Jazz Festival, Summer Stage at Central Park, Hollywood Bowl, to name a few.

In 1997, they were joined by Zakki Jawad a longtime friend and fellow musician. Zakki, an accomplished musician in Reggae and World Music circles, has been actively performing in the U.S and abroad for the past 16 years. He has recorded and performed with several Reggae and African musicians, such as the Itals from Jamaica. Between them they have extensive live and recording experience.

Admas’ latest and sophomore effort, produced by the legendary studio icon Bill Laswell, reflects their continual work in fusing African/Ethiopian ideas with other world music elements. This album also features prominent musicians such as Omar Hakim (drums - previously with Sting and Madonna), Karsh Kale (Drums and Tabla), Lili Haydn (Violin – Seal, Plant/Page), Peter Apfelbaum (Saxophone – Don Cherry, Hieroglyphics Ensemble), Art Baron (Trombone – Duke Ellington), Graham Haynes (Trumpet and Flugel-horn, - Steve Coleman, Gigi), Gigi (vocals - signed by Chris Blackwell to Palm Pictures recently topped the World Music charts in US and Europe), and Abdou Mboup (Percussions - Angelique Kidjo, Jean-Luc Ponty) to name a few.

The emergence of Admas as an original band comes on the heel of the establishment of their own independent label and Production Company, C-Side Entertainment, LLC. Admas’ fusion of Ethiopian and other World Music elements is the basis for their unique sound, which they hope to bring to worldwide audience. They believe their music is reflective of today’s world, where globalization is defying geographic boundaries.