VARIOUS: Mali's most prominent music group "Tinariwen" tours North America with their desert music
Record ID:
777552
VARIOUS: Mali's most prominent music group "Tinariwen" tours North America with their desert music
- Title: VARIOUS: Mali's most prominent music group "Tinariwen" tours North America with their desert music
- Date: 3rd September 2010
- Summary: VARIOUS OF THE BAND MEMBERS PERFORMING ON STAGE
- Embargoed: 18th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Reuters ID: LVA53TTCSYBNKYNN2DIS2N16EL4I
- Story Text: Their fans know them as the rebel rockers of the desert.
Over the past 30 years, the Malian band Tinariwen have transformed the hypnotic music of the Sahara into a new breed of electric blues that has won them millions of fans the world over.
They were recently in Los Angeles, as part of a North American tour that will took them to 15 different cities in just 4 months.
The band's name Tinariwen is the plural of the Tamachek word for desert - they're all ethnic Touareg, berber pastoralists who live a nomadic existence in an area of the Sahara covering parts of Mali, Niger and Algeria. Tinariwen's story is tightly linked to the struggles of the Touareg.
In the early 1960s, conflict broke out between Touareg militia and the newly independent Malian government. Among those killed was the father of the band's founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib. Besides Ibrahim, one of the band's oldest members is Abdallah Ag Alhousseyn, who joined Tinariwen some 25 years ago.
"The group was born in 1979 or 1980 in the south of Algeria. In 1983 the early members found themselves in a military camp in Tripoli in Libya, and that's where we formally decided to call the band Tinariwen," said Alhousseyn.
The group then moved to Mali , where a second rebellion broke out. In 1996, the Malian government and the rebels signed a peace accord where the majority of ex- comabattants were integrated in the national army. But the groups decided to to leave the army and continued making music.
Tinariwen's popularity has exploded in the past 10 years, taking the group everywhere from Australia to America.
"People here compare our music to blues or rock. But the truth is we never tried to make blues or rock music. We are all guitar players and songwriters, and we all listen to different styles of music. If some of our sounds feel similar to rock and blues, it's simply because of the use of the guitar. We call our music "assouf". That means "nostalgia" in our Touareg language," said Alhousseyn.
Assouf is a type of music that combines traditional Touareg music with more modern elements.
Eyadou Ag Leche is one of the groups' younger members who joined when he was a teenager. Despite all the world recognition the group has recieved, Leche says that touring can leave the group exhausted.
"There are some very tough times, yes. There are moments when we are very tired, like right now. But still, your soul is awake because you know that you're here to meet people, make music, and communicate with people. That leads to some great moments as well. When we're on stage we forget that we are tired. We're happy because we're here learning, seeing different things and experiencing new cultures, " he said.
If Tinariwen's early songs often bore a political message, today they focus more on issues concerning Touareg society and culture.
And their fans seem to agree. At a recent recent concert in Los Angeles, fans couldn 't get enough and asked for an encore.
"Tinariwen's music is this incredible mix of something that sounds very familiar like very bluesy and very rootsy and something completely exotic and ancient," said Kate Movius, an audience member.
"It was great. It's nice to see people get up and shake it loose, usually I come here to see the chamber orchestras or something and it's all very stoic and stale you know," said John Gries, another audience member.
After the concert, Leche ventures outside to win some fans and sign a few autographs.
After four months with a grueling tour schedule in North America, Tinariwen will return home for a much deserved rest.
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