Tinariwen
Another group I discovered in that Cathay flight, was Tinariwen. Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. They've gained international prominence beyond the world music community, and have performed in music festivals in Europe and North America. The first song that made me take notice of the band, was Cler Achel. Below is a video of the band performing that song. I also liked other songs from their recent album, including Toumast, Imidiwan Winakalin, and Awa Didjen.
To understand the band and their music, you need to understand a little about the Tuareg -- a nomadic people living in the Saharan interior of North Africa. (The name Tuareg comes from early European explorers of the region -- they instead refer to themselves by various other names.) Their nomadic way of life came at an end in the early 20th century due to bloody colonization by the French. When the French finally retreated, like so many post-colonial stories, the peoples once held together by force, sought to revert back to their traditional ways of life -- decentralization was not (and still isn't) condoned by the newly empowered, resulting in violent uprisings. There has been various uprisings of the Tuareg, starting in the 1960s, and continuing today, in Tuareg traditional territory spanning Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Libya and Algeria.
The members of Tinariwen have had a history that reflects that of their displaced people. As a four year boy, lead singer Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, watched as his father was executed by Mali government forces for aiding Tuareg rebels. The band members grew up lost, in refugee camps, where their love of music developed. In the 1980s, some heeded Muammar al-Gaddafi's call to young Tuareg men, to gain military training and join his army in conquering North Africa. They saw brief action in a rebel army in Mali, in 1990, but after a peace agreement was reached, the band members went back to music.
The band gained international prominence early in the 2000s, after performing in various festivals in Mali and Europe. They have a musical style that is describe as blues inspired, but really has its roots in West African tradition -- specifically, in the area between Timbuktu and Gao, along the Niger river. The band's music is played on a guitar, a shepherd's flute, a one-string fiddle known as an imzad, and the traditional tindé drum.
There's a rumour that Tinariwen will be in Toronto on March 4th, playing the Phoenix, but I've seen no listing yet for the show. If they make it to Toronto, I'd love to be there!
To understand the band and their music, you need to understand a little about the Tuareg -- a nomadic people living in the Saharan interior of North Africa. (The name Tuareg comes from early European explorers of the region -- they instead refer to themselves by various other names.) Their nomadic way of life came at an end in the early 20th century due to bloody colonization by the French. When the French finally retreated, like so many post-colonial stories, the peoples once held together by force, sought to revert back to their traditional ways of life -- decentralization was not (and still isn't) condoned by the newly empowered, resulting in violent uprisings. There has been various uprisings of the Tuareg, starting in the 1960s, and continuing today, in Tuareg traditional territory spanning Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Libya and Algeria.
The members of Tinariwen have had a history that reflects that of their displaced people. As a four year boy, lead singer Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, watched as his father was executed by Mali government forces for aiding Tuareg rebels. The band members grew up lost, in refugee camps, where their love of music developed. In the 1980s, some heeded Muammar al-Gaddafi's call to young Tuareg men, to gain military training and join his army in conquering North Africa. They saw brief action in a rebel army in Mali, in 1990, but after a peace agreement was reached, the band members went back to music.
The band gained international prominence early in the 2000s, after performing in various festivals in Mali and Europe. They have a musical style that is describe as blues inspired, but really has its roots in West African tradition -- specifically, in the area between Timbuktu and Gao, along the Niger river. The band's music is played on a guitar, a shepherd's flute, a one-string fiddle known as an imzad, and the traditional tindé drum.
There's a rumour that Tinariwen will be in Toronto on March 4th, playing the Phoenix, but I've seen no listing yet for the show. If they make it to Toronto, I'd love to be there!
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