Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique / Mali : Tinariwen

Tinariwen
(Mali)

Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique

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Biography

Tinariwen is a group of young touaregs from the very north of Mali. The band was set up in 1982, in a time where the touareg, berber related nomads from the desert of Mali, Algeria, Niger and Libya, were faced with droughts, unemployment but also oppression by national governments. In Mali, this oppression was especially strong, and many young touaregs fled in exile to Algeria and Libya. This situation ended in a rebellion in the early 1990s, until the new democratic regime in Mali reached an agreement with the touaregs. In this universe of exile and rebellion, Tinariwen was created by young musicians originary from the town of Kidal and its surroundings (Adrar des Ifoghas).

The music of Tinariwen is a mix of traditional touareg music with various (foreign) influences, both from the West and from the Middle-East. At the time, their music was new because of the use of the guitar. The songs are about being in exile, living in precarity, about resistance, but also about love.

Through contacts with the French group Lo'Jo and British producer Justin Adams, Tinariwen has received considerable media attention and concert opportunities in the western world over the last years.

Musicians of Tinariwen:
Ibrahim Ag Alhabib: guitar, vocals;
Alhousseini Abdoulahi dit Abdallah: guitar, vocals;
Alassane Touhami dit Abin-Abin: guitar, percussion, vocals;
Eyadou Ag Leche: guitar, vocals;
Said Ag Ayad: percussion;
Wounnou Wallet Oumar: vocals, percussion;
Mina Wallet Oumar: vocals, percussion;

Created: 1982 as Taghreft Tinariwen (=the building of nations)
Style: Tishoumaren / desert Blues

Tinariwen - Album Tassili

Discography

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Tassili	2011	V2 Music	US: Anti- Records
Imidiwan: Companions	2009	Az	UK: Independiente
Aman Iman	2007	Az / Universal Music	UK: Independiente ISOM65CD (with slightly altered tracklist)
Amassakoul	2004	Triban Union/ Independent IRL 014	Also released on Wrasse Records WRASS 125 and on Universal Music (2004)
The Radio Tisdas Session	2001	Wayward 703	Also: World Village Music (2002)
Tenere	1992	Cassette

Sources

Page added May 2004

Tinariwen(Mali)

Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique

Tinariwen
(Mali)