Tinariwen
Encyclopedia
Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali
. The band was formed around 1979 in refugee camp
s in Libya
but returned to Mali
after a cease-fire in the 1990s. The group first started to gain a following outside the Sahara region in 2001, with the release of The Radio Tisdas Sessions
, and the performances at Festival au Désert in Mali and at the Roskilde festival
in Denmark. Their popularity rose internationally with the release of the critically acclaimed Aman Iman
in 2007. Tinariwen's biography has variously been described as "the most compelling of any band" (Songlines), "the most rock'n'roll of them all" (The Irish Times), "hard-bitten" (Slate.com), and "dramatic" (The Independent). The band released their fifth album Tassili on August 30, 2011.
. As a child he saw a western film
in which a cowboy played a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a tin can, a stick and bicycle brake wire. He started to play old Tuareg and modern Arabic pop tunes. Ag Alhabib first lived in refugee camps and later resided with other Tuareg exiles in Libya
and Algeria
.
In the late 1970s Ag Alhabib joined with other musicians in the Tuareg rebel community, exploring the radical chaabi protest music of Moroccan groups like Nass El Ghiwane
and Jil Jilala
; Algerian pop rai; and western rock and pop artists like Elvis Presley
, Led Zeppelin
, Carlos Santana
, Dire Straits
, Jimi Hendrix
, Boney M
, and Bob Marley
. Ag Alhabib formed a group with Inteyeden Ag Ablil, his brother Liya, Ag Ablil, and Hassan Ag Touhami in Tamanrasset, Algeria to play at parties and weddings. They acquired their first real acoustic guitar in 1979. While the group had no official name, people began to call them Kel Tinariwen, which in the Tamashek language translates as "The People of the Deserts" or "The Desert Boys."
In 1980, Libyan ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi
put out a decree inviting all young Tuareg men who were living illegally in Libya to receive full military training. Gaddafi dreamed of forming a Saharan regiment, made up of the best young Tuareg fighters, to further his territorial ambitions in Chad
, Niger
, and elsewhere. Ag Alhabib and his bandmates answered the call and received nine months of training. They answered a similar call in 1985, this time by leaders of the Tuareg rebel movement in Libya, and met fellow musicians Keddou Ag Ossade, Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka "Japonais"), Sweiloum, Abouhadid, and Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni. All sang and played guitar in various permutations. The musicians joined together in a collective (now known as Tinariwen) in order to create songs about the issues facing the Tuareg people, built a makeshift studio, and vowed to record music for free for anyone who supplied a blank cassette tape. The resulting homemade cassettes were traded widely throughout the Sahara region.
In 1989, the collective left Libya and moved to Ag Alhabib's home country of Mali, where he returned to his home village of Tessalit for the first time in 26 years. In 1990 the Tuareg people of Mali revolted against the government, with some members of Tinariwen participating as rebel fighters. After a peace agreement known as the Tamanrasset Accords was reached in January 1991, the musicians left the military and devoted themselves to music full time. In 1992 some of the members of Tinariwen went to Abidjan
, Ivory Coast to record a cassette at JBZ studios. They played occasional gigs for far-flung Tuareg communities throughout the Sahara region, gaining word-of-mouth popularity among the Tuareg people.
, who traveled to a music festival in Bamako
and met two members of the Tinariwen collective. Important was the then manager, Philippe Brix, today manager of Terakaft, a similar group. In 1999 some members of Tinariwen traveled to France and performed with Lo'Jo under the name Azawad. The two groups organized the January 2001 Festival of the Desert in Essaken, Mali with Tinariwen as the headliners, and in close cooperation with the Belgian Sfinx Festival. The festival brought much outside attention to Tinariwen. By the end of 2001, Tinariwen had performed at WOMAD, Roskilde
, and the South Bank
in London. Their debut CD, The Radio Tisdas Sessions
, was recorded by Justin Adams
and Jean-Paul Romann at the radio station of the same name (the only Tamashek-speaking station in Kidal, Mali) and released in 2001. It was Tinariwen's first recording to be released outside of northern Africa.
Since 2001 Tinariwen have played over 700 concerts in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia; including festivals such as Glastonbury
, Coachella
, Roskilde
, Paleo
, Les Vieilles Charrues, WOMAD, and Printemps de Bourges
. Their 2004 CD Amassakoul
("The Traveller" in Tamashek) and its 2007 follow-up Aman Iman
("Water Is Life" in Tamashek) were released worldwide and gained the notice of celebrity fans including Carlos Santana
, Robert Plant
, Bono
and the Edge
of U2
, Thom Yorke
of Radiohead
, Chris Martin
of Coldplay
, Henry Rollins
, Brian Eno
, and TV On The Radio
. In 2005 Tinariwen received a BBC Award for World Music, and in 2008 they received Germany’s prestigious Praetorius Music Prize.
Also since 2001, the Tinariwen collective has added several younger Tuareg musicians who did not live through the military conflicts experienced by the older members but have contributed to the collective's multi-generational evolution. New members include bassist Eyadou Ag Leche, percussionist Said Ag Ayad, guitarist Elaga Ag Hamid, guitarist Abdallah Ag Lamid, and vocalists Wonou Walet Sidati and the Walet Oumar sisters. The band's 2009 album Imidiwan
(Tamashek for "Companions") was recorded in a mobile studio by Jean-Paul Ramann in the village of Tessalit
, Mali
.
In July 2011 the collective set out for a new world tour that will include performances at the End of the Road Festival
in September and All Tomorrow's Parties
in December. They completed 24 performances in the United States of America from September 30 until December 1, 2010. Three members of the group appeared on the The Colbert Report on November 29, 2011 with TV on the Radio
to play Tenere Taggim Tossam and Imidiwan Ma Tenam from their 2011 album Tassili
.
, between Timbuktu
and Gao
. The core elements of Tinariwen's music are traditional Tuareg melodies and rhythms including those played on the shepherd's flute, which is primarily a man's instrument; and those played on a one-string fiddle known as an imzad which is played by women. The primary percussion instrument is the tindé drum which is played by women at festive occasions. Another important traditional influence is the lute known as the teherdent, which is played by the griot
s of the Gao and Timbuktu regions. In the late 1970s, when the founding members of Tinariwen started playing acoustic guitars, they played a traditional repertoire adapted to the western guitar.
Other regional influences include Berber music
from northern Algeria, especially radical Kabyle singers like Ait Menguellet and Ferhat
; the pop sounds of electrified rai music of Algeria; pop groups from Morocco like Nass El Ghiwane
and Lemchaheb with their lute and mandol riffs; the classical pop of Egypt; and even Bollywood
music. Tinariwen was also influenced by traditional Malian musicians, the most famous of which was Ali Farka Toure
. In the early years of the collective's history, the members were also fans of bootlegged albums by western acts that had made their way to the Tuareg people, with favorites including albums by Dire Straits
, Santana
, Led Zeppelin
, Bob Dylan
, Jimi Hendrix
, Kenny Rogers
and Don Williams
.
While the Tinariwen style is possibly a distant relative of blues music, via West African music, members of Tinariwen claim to have never heard actual American blues music until they began to travel internationally in 2001.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. The band was formed around 1979 in refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
but returned to Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
after a cease-fire in the 1990s. The group first started to gain a following outside the Sahara region in 2001, with the release of The Radio Tisdas Sessions
The Radio Tisdas Sessions
The Radio Tisdas Sessions is a 2001 album by the Malian group Tinariwen. The album was recorded at Kidal's local Tuareg station, Radio Tisdas, by producers Justin Adams and Lo'Jo...
, and the performances at Festival au Désert in Mali and at the Roskilde festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in Denmark. Their popularity rose internationally with the release of the critically acclaimed Aman Iman
Aman Iman
Aman Iman is a 2007 album by the Malian group Tinariwen, produced by Justin Adams.- Track listing :...
in 2007. Tinariwen's biography has variously been described as "the most compelling of any band" (Songlines), "the most rock'n'roll of them all" (The Irish Times), "hard-bitten" (Slate.com), and "dramatic" (The Independent). The band released their fifth album Tassili on August 30, 2011.
Early years
Tinariwen was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who at age four witnessed the execution of his father (a Tuareg rebel) during a 1963 uprising in MaliMali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. As a child he saw a western film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
in which a cowboy played a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a tin can, a stick and bicycle brake wire. He started to play old Tuareg and modern Arabic pop tunes. Ag Alhabib first lived in refugee camps and later resided with other Tuareg exiles in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
In the late 1970s Ag Alhabib joined with other musicians in the Tuareg rebel community, exploring the radical chaabi protest music of Moroccan groups like Nass El Ghiwane
Nass El Ghiwane
Nass El Ghiwane are a musical group established in 1971 in Casablanca, Morocco. Their song "Ya Sah" appears in the film The Last Temptation of Christ and on the associated album Passion – Sources. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in...
and Jil Jilala
Jil Jilala
Jil Jilala is a Moroccan musical group which rose to prominence in the 1970s among the movement created by Nass El Ghiwane and Lem Chaheb. Jil Jilala was founded in Marrakech in 1972 by performing arts students Mohamed Derhem, Moulay Tahar Asbahani, Sakina Safadi, Mahmoud Essaadi, Hamid Zoughi and...
; Algerian pop rai; and western rock and pop artists like Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
, and Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
. Ag Alhabib formed a group with Inteyeden Ag Ablil, his brother Liya, Ag Ablil, and Hassan Ag Touhami in Tamanrasset, Algeria to play at parties and weddings. They acquired their first real acoustic guitar in 1979. While the group had no official name, people began to call them Kel Tinariwen, which in the Tamashek language translates as "The People of the Deserts" or "The Desert Boys."
In 1980, Libyan ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
put out a decree inviting all young Tuareg men who were living illegally in Libya to receive full military training. Gaddafi dreamed of forming a Saharan regiment, made up of the best young Tuareg fighters, to further his territorial ambitions in Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, and elsewhere. Ag Alhabib and his bandmates answered the call and received nine months of training. They answered a similar call in 1985, this time by leaders of the Tuareg rebel movement in Libya, and met fellow musicians Keddou Ag Ossade, Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka "Japonais"), Sweiloum, Abouhadid, and Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni. All sang and played guitar in various permutations. The musicians joined together in a collective (now known as Tinariwen) in order to create songs about the issues facing the Tuareg people, built a makeshift studio, and vowed to record music for free for anyone who supplied a blank cassette tape. The resulting homemade cassettes were traded widely throughout the Sahara region.
In 1989, the collective left Libya and moved to Ag Alhabib's home country of Mali, where he returned to his home village of Tessalit for the first time in 26 years. In 1990 the Tuareg people of Mali revolted against the government, with some members of Tinariwen participating as rebel fighters. After a peace agreement known as the Tamanrasset Accords was reached in January 1991, the musicians left the military and devoted themselves to music full time. In 1992 some of the members of Tinariwen went to Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
, Ivory Coast to record a cassette at JBZ studios. They played occasional gigs for far-flung Tuareg communities throughout the Sahara region, gaining word-of-mouth popularity among the Tuareg people.
International recognition
In 1998, Tinariwen came to the attention of the French world music ensemble Lo'JoLo'Jo
Lo'Jo are a group of France-based musicians, performing and recording a blend of world music with strong North African as well as French folk elements....
, who traveled to a music festival in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
and met two members of the Tinariwen collective. Important was the then manager, Philippe Brix, today manager of Terakaft, a similar group. In 1999 some members of Tinariwen traveled to France and performed with Lo'Jo under the name Azawad. The two groups organized the January 2001 Festival of the Desert in Essaken, Mali with Tinariwen as the headliners, and in close cooperation with the Belgian Sfinx Festival. The festival brought much outside attention to Tinariwen. By the end of 2001, Tinariwen had performed at WOMAD, Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
, and the South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
in London. Their debut CD, The Radio Tisdas Sessions
The Radio Tisdas Sessions
The Radio Tisdas Sessions is a 2001 album by the Malian group Tinariwen. The album was recorded at Kidal's local Tuareg station, Radio Tisdas, by producers Justin Adams and Lo'Jo...
, was recorded by Justin Adams
Justin Adams
-Biography:The son of a diplomat, Adams grew up in the middle-east and Egypt, before settling in the UK.He began his career in music in the 1980s with the band The Impossible Dreamers...
and Jean-Paul Romann at the radio station of the same name (the only Tamashek-speaking station in Kidal, Mali) and released in 2001. It was Tinariwen's first recording to be released outside of northern Africa.
Since 2001 Tinariwen have played over 700 concerts in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia; including festivals such as Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, Coachella
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
, Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
, Paleo
Paleo
Paleo, aka David Strackany, is an American singer of folk music who is notable for writing a song every day for 365 days using a "half-size children's guitar" while living out of his car and being essentially homeless...
, Les Vieilles Charrues, WOMAD, and Printemps de Bourges
Printemps de Bourges
Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, during five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe....
. Their 2004 CD Amassakoul
Amassakoul
Amassakoul is a 2004 album by the Malian group Tinariwen.- Track listing :...
("The Traveller" in Tamashek) and its 2007 follow-up Aman Iman
Aman Iman
Aman Iman is a 2007 album by the Malian group Tinariwen, produced by Justin Adams.- Track listing :...
("Water Is Life" in Tamashek) were released worldwide and gained the notice of celebrity fans including Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
and the Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
of U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
of Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
, Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, and TV On The Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
. In 2005 Tinariwen received a BBC Award for World Music, and in 2008 they received Germany’s prestigious Praetorius Music Prize.
Also since 2001, the Tinariwen collective has added several younger Tuareg musicians who did not live through the military conflicts experienced by the older members but have contributed to the collective's multi-generational evolution. New members include bassist Eyadou Ag Leche, percussionist Said Ag Ayad, guitarist Elaga Ag Hamid, guitarist Abdallah Ag Lamid, and vocalists Wonou Walet Sidati and the Walet Oumar sisters. The band's 2009 album Imidiwan
Imidiwan
Imidiwan: Companions, released 29 June 2009, is the fourth studio album by Tinariwen. The album saw the band reunite with Jean-Paul Romann, the producer of their 2001 album The Radio Tisdas Sessions. Some editions of the album include a DVD featuring a 30-minute documentary about the band.-Critical...
(Tamashek for "Companions") was recorded in a mobile studio by Jean-Paul Ramann in the village of Tessalit
Tessalit
Tessalit is a city in Mali's Kidal Region. The town is both a Commune and the capital of Tessalit Cercle . As of 1998 the commune had a total population of 2,533....
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
.
In July 2011 the collective set out for a new world tour that will include performances at the End of the Road Festival
End Of The Road Festival
End of the Road Festival is an annual music festival in England which focuses on alternative music, mostly folk, alt.country and Americana. It is hosted at the Larmer Tree Gardens, on the border of north Dorset and Wiltshire, and usually takes place over the first or second full weekend in...
in September and All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
in December. They completed 24 performances in the United States of America from September 30 until December 1, 2010. Three members of the group appeared on the The Colbert Report on November 29, 2011 with TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
to play Tenere Taggim Tossam and Imidiwan Ma Tenam from their 2011 album Tassili
Tassili (album)
Tassili is the fifth album by the Tuareg-Berber band Tinariwen recorded in Tassili n'Ajjer, an Algerian national park. The album marked a major departure from previous recordings. It is their only album to be recorded outside a studio in major cities like Paris and Bamako, Mali...
.
Musical style
The Tinariwen sound is primarily guitar-driven in the style known as assouf among the Tuareg people. The Tinariwen guitar style has its roots in West African music, specifically that from the "great bend" region along the Niger RiverNiger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
, between Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
and Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
. The core elements of Tinariwen's music are traditional Tuareg melodies and rhythms including those played on the shepherd's flute, which is primarily a man's instrument; and those played on a one-string fiddle known as an imzad which is played by women. The primary percussion instrument is the tindé drum which is played by women at festive occasions. Another important traditional influence is the lute known as the teherdent, which is played by the griot
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
s of the Gao and Timbuktu regions. In the late 1970s, when the founding members of Tinariwen started playing acoustic guitars, they played a traditional repertoire adapted to the western guitar.
Other regional influences include Berber music
Berber music
The Berber people is the indigenous and major ethnic group inhabiting North Africa and part of West Africa . Berbers call themselves "imazighen"...
from northern Algeria, especially radical Kabyle singers like Ait Menguellet and Ferhat
Ferhat
-Given name:* Ferhat Abbas, Algerian political leader* Ferhat Bıkmaz, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Cerci, German footballer* Ferhat Çökmüş, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Kıskanç, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Öztorun, Turkish footballer-Surname:...
; the pop sounds of electrified rai music of Algeria; pop groups from Morocco like Nass El Ghiwane
Nass El Ghiwane
Nass El Ghiwane are a musical group established in 1971 in Casablanca, Morocco. Their song "Ya Sah" appears in the film The Last Temptation of Christ and on the associated album Passion – Sources. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in...
and Lemchaheb with their lute and mandol riffs; the classical pop of Egypt; and even Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
music. Tinariwen was also influenced by traditional Malian musicians, the most famous of which was Ali Farka Toure
Ali Farka Touré
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
. In the early years of the collective's history, the members were also fans of bootlegged albums by western acts that had made their way to the Tuareg people, with favorites including albums by Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
, Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and Don Williams
Don Williams
Don Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
.
While the Tinariwen style is possibly a distant relative of blues music, via West African music, members of Tinariwen claim to have never heard actual American blues music until they began to travel internationally in 2001.
Band members
Tinariwen has always been a collective of singers, songwriters, and musicians, who come together in different combinations to play concerts and to record. This is because of the nomadic lifestyle of the Tuareg people and the difficulties of transportation and communication in the Sahara region. The most active members of the collective include the following.The current touring group
- Ibrahim Ag Alhabib - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals - Hassan Ag Touhami - guitar, vocals
- Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, vocals - Eyadou Ag Leche - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, calabashCabasaThe cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wide cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, narrow wooden or plastic handle....
, backing vocals - Said Ag Ayad - percussion, backing vocals
- Elaga Ag Hamid - guitar, backing vocals
- Abdallah Ag Lamida - guitar, backing vocals
- Mohammed Ag Tahada - percussion
Current and previous members not currently touring
- Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka "Japonais") - guitar, vocals
- Keddou Ag Ossad - guitar, vocals
- Liya Ag Ablil - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Sweiloum - guitar, vocals
- Foy Foy - guitar, vocals
- Abouhadid - guitar, vocals
- Wonou Walet Sidati - vocals
- Kesa Ag Hamid - vocals
- Mina Walet Oumar - vocals
Discography
- The Radio Tisdas SessionsThe Radio Tisdas SessionsThe Radio Tisdas Sessions is a 2001 album by the Malian group Tinariwen. The album was recorded at Kidal's local Tuareg station, Radio Tisdas, by producers Justin Adams and Lo'Jo...
(2001) - AmassakoulAmassakoulAmassakoul is a 2004 album by the Malian group Tinariwen.- Track listing :...
(2004) - Aman ImanAman ImanAman Iman is a 2007 album by the Malian group Tinariwen, produced by Justin Adams.- Track listing :...
(2007) - ImidiwanImidiwanImidiwan: Companions, released 29 June 2009, is the fourth studio album by Tinariwen. The album saw the band reunite with Jean-Paul Romann, the producer of their 2001 album The Radio Tisdas Sessions. Some editions of the album include a DVD featuring a 30-minute documentary about the band.-Critical...
(2009) - TassiliTassili (album)Tassili is the fifth album by the Tuareg-Berber band Tinariwen recorded in Tassili n'Ajjer, an Algerian national park. The album marked a major departure from previous recordings. It is their only album to be recorded outside a studio in major cities like Paris and Bamako, Mali...
(2011)
External links
- Official Tinariwen site
- Tinariwen wins 2009 Uncut Music Award for their album "Imidiwan"
- Images of Tinariwen in Mali and UK
- Tinariwen live at Other Music
- Live Review of Tinariwen on the Daily Music Guide
- Article on Tinariwen on music.aol.ca
- Tinariwen - Music of the Tuarek - Desert Blues
- Tinariwen Bio (2011) on the Anti Records website
- Tinariwen: from the Sahara to New York City by their former manager Andy Morgan for The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...