It's the end of the year. Festival time! For some odd reason, the Sahara likes to cram its festivals on top of one another, back to back, at the coldest time of the year. Make sure you bring a warm coat and mittens. Many of the festivals have important cultural…
The Tuaregs consist of a variety of tribes, stretching across the center of the Saharan desert, East of Mauritania, across Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya. In the past, the Western association was with "blue men" in the desert, the fierce resistance to colonization, the romantic myth of the desert nomad. Today…
En route to Timbouctou, I stop over in Goundam, a nondescript village of the Niger Delta. As I travel with guitar, a young man stops me and asks if he can have a look in the case. "Moi, aussi, je suis un artiste..." His name is Babah Dire (from the…
While Tuareg rock (Desert Blues, i.e. Tinariwen) is the most known form of Tamashek music abroad, traditional guitar still has a strong place in the North. The traditional guitar is found throughout West Africa, for Peuls, Sonrai, Maures, Tuareg, Sarakoles - respectively named Hodou, Koubour, Tidinit, Teherdent or Hardine (and…
Girl by the rice paddiesA French songGirl by the market with Amadou and Mariam's Homage to Ali Farka ToureGirl in Niafounke tries to remember the wordsGirl with mother singing Na Hawa DoumbiaHamadou Traore singing song from the Bi-annal, National Orchestra of TimbouctouKids with the Mali National Anthem (sort of French)Mamadou…
Orchestre Dental from Nouakchott is one of the most interesting bands I've had the chance to record and definitely the most unique. The music is distinctly modern, but incorporating a broad range of influences from the traditional scales of the Sahara (Moor, Peul, Soninke) to the imported sounds of their…