“Ambassel” by Teshome Mitiku with the Either/Orchestra

Teshome’s voice first caught my attention in 2004, after I came back from the Either/Orchestra’s first trip to Ethiopia.  Later, I included a complete transcription of his vocal line on an Ethiopian music classic, “Mot Adeladlogn”, in my article “Which Way do the Trade Winds Blow: Two Cases Studies Examining the Voyage of Jazz to Africa”.  But after lots of research and many, many gigs, on of my favorite experiences – ever – is to perform this song with Teshome.

Teshome has explained the lyrics to me in a few different ways, but my favorite reminds me of Proust.  Like the madeleine in Swan’s Way, the narrator of “Ambassel” finds himself being transported through time.  As a young man, the narrator left his village to build a life for himself elsewhere.  Many years later, he returned to find that everything had changed.  The village had not been maintained, the buildings were in shambles, and the villagers had mostly left or passed away.  He found a picture of himself laying in the dirt, picked it up, and took it back to his hotel, tucking it into the frame of his mirror.  The next day, while getting ready, he looked at himself in the mirror and also at the picture, and found himself transported. remembering all of the experiences between the time of the photo, and the time of the reflection in the mirror.