In 1989, Aghaly and his brother Mousa left their home. A small village called Ewit, it sits just outside of Timbouctou, not far from where the barge shelters cars across the river. Their family are forgerons and griots. I'm uncertain of the difference between the two, or if there is…
Takamba music is played on traditional guitar (tamashek: teheredent), with a remarkable distinctive rhythm tapped out on a calabash. It's always accompanied by a beautiful ghostly dance. I've written about the music previously and released a few records. The origin of the music remains somewhat shrouded in mystery. Suffice to…
Super Onze - Gao Around the fall of Gao in 2012, I met a cassette vendor in Niamey's grand market. For years he has sat on a bench in a busy corridor with stacks of cassettes and an array of simultaneously spinning duplicators. One of a few vendors left in…
Radio Hanna Broadcast Radio Hanna is housed in an old dilapidated cinema in Gao, Mali. Vestiges of the movie theater remain: rusted seats on the balcony and a giant projection screen -- flanked by piles of wood, wandering goats, and a woman pounding a mortar and pestle. Families rent the…
Agali Ag Amoumine see previously, with an album recorded by sahelsounds in 2009 -- a raw session of hypnotic takamba, the traditional tuareg and sonrai music: Agali on the electrified tehardent accompanied by Alhassane Maiga on calabash. Originally distributed by cassette and cellphones, now with an official vinyl/bandcamp release! Takamba…
Takamba is a place. It's also a slow ghostly dance, a distinctive staggered rhythm clapped on a calabash, and a gritty distorted terhardent. "Ali" Ag Amoumine doesn't live in Takamba, but 250 kilometers up river in Timbouctou. He's also not Sonrai, the ethnicity credited with the creation of Takamba, though…