ጊዜው እሩቅ ነው ቀኑን ባልጠቅሰውም

የነበረውን ግን ምንም አልረሳውም

በቅዱስ ዮሴፍ ት/ቤት በዛች አዳራሽ

እየተለማመዱ ቀኑትንሽ ሲመሽ

ሁለቱን መምቻዎች ባንድ እጁ ይዞ

አገጩን እያሻሸ ፈዞና ተክዞ

ካውንቱን እንጠብቅ ትንሽ ፈጠን ይላል

የናንተ አካሄድ ትንሽ ጎተት ብሏል

ብሎ የማክሲ ፕሪስት ተወዳጅ ሙዚቃን

እነሱ ሲለማመዱ ስናይ አመሸን

ገና በት/ቤት በዛች ትንሽ ቦታ

እጅግ ግሩም ነበር ተፍዬ ሲመታ

አድጎ እዚህ እንደሚደርስ ያስታውቅ ነበረ

የከተበን ፍቅሩም በውስጣችን ቀረ

Happy Birthday, dear Teferi.

Teferi and I spoke over phone 14 or 15 years ago. It so happened he was supposed to call me for work. As respectful and decent person as he is, he was addressing me with highest regard - አንቱታ - that made me laugh. He didn’t realize who he was talking. I told him who I am, we both laughed. ምን ላድርግ ብለህ? ቢቢሻ አንቱ እያለ ስለነገረኝና የማውቅህም ስላልመሰለኝ በተለመደው አክብሮታዊ ባህንችን ማዋራት ነበረብኝ, he said. That is Tefe, very much anchored to his roots, identity, and humility. In one of his interviews I heard him say he wants to be remembered as a good person, nothing else. His being Jazz legend is nothing for him, not even being a celebrity and an astute intellect and ethnographer. All he cared about was being human, a true human being. He is such a soft spoken person, but witty who knows to make jokes. We laughed on number of things, and discussed serious matters. We both love cake. We had occasions where we discussed many ideas over cake at his favorite LaPatisserie. We eat more than one piece of cake at once. 🙈Guilty as charged 😊

Before shows, during breaks, or after we spoke on many maters. He has a unique way of looking at things, which I believe is where he gets the idea to having a fresh look into his music. He loves tradition and many of our discussions involved tradition, civilization, and humanities. There is no dull moment with Tefe. But Tefe has his own shy side too, he likes to be reserved and stay in one corner. Despite his stage personality, once off stage he goes to the corner and disappears. 

I have so much respect for Tefe for who he is - Tefe the person. Very personable, down to earth, who loves his family dearly. Over the years he has introduced me to Abinet, his better half, an artist - painter and professor. ድሮም ባልና ሚስት ከእንድ ወንዝ ነው የሚቀዳ:: He used to tell me projects such as progress with his home construction and album production. The Peugeot 404 family and his VW (both from the 1960s) are not only his signature, but also a testament that he cares less to flashy materials. Also, another testament to his outlook that springs from the depth of classical thoughts that he is not afraid to stand alone and speak the truth to power. 

May you rest in power my fried. The love and respect I have for you knows no bounds. You may not be present among us, but you are always around us. The legacy you left all of us with is LOVE, HUMANITY, and HUMILITY. I am lucky to have known you in person. I treasure each moment. 

Thank you for being my friend. 

I first met Teferi one morning in August 2018 at the American school (ICS), where he was dropping off his child. My friend Teddy and I were there to drop off Teddy's daughter. Teddy introduced me to Teferi and mentioned my book project on the history of modern Ethiopian music. Teferi was immediately enthusiastic and offered to help me connect with some of the legends of Ethiopian music. True to his word, he made it happen—I was able to interview three prominent musicians in just one week thanks to his support. He even inquired about the status of the project years later and sent his encouragement through Teddy as I was not in Ethiopia. 

May his soul rest in peace!

Teferi Assefa on CNN’s African Voices 7 years ago! (LINKS BELOW)

Over two months have passed since Teferi Assefa—yes, that master of percussion—left us.

To the drum, he was its poet. Our own Art Blakey; perhaps Max Roach (help me out here)? ስል ከድፍረት የመነጨ አይደለም፡፡ He built "Negarit" (ነጋሪት), his own band, and left an indelible mark on Addis Ababa’s jazz scene. He shared his knowledge, nurtured young talent, and conducted extensive research on Ethiopia’s rich percussion traditions—from the deep south to the extreme north.

He was also an actor, but playing himself in Wondwossen Dikran’s beautiful 1990s feature film, "Journey to Lasta". And so much more...

However, beyond all that, he stood out as a true gentleman—a rare quality in the ego-driven world of his craft.

As you’ll see in these CNN African Voices videos (shot in late 2017 and broadcast in February 2018, with production support from ZANA Productions), Teferi, alongside his colleagues Henock Temesgen and Girum Mezmur, was redefining Ethio-jazz. You’ll hear him speak about why he took up the drums and his role in shaping the genre.

For him, percussion was more than music—it was a generator of trance. It was wild, it was measured, and it was everything in between.

Thanks to CNN for re-uploading these videos a few days ago.

Tefera Ghedamu

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