{"id":41511,"date":"2019-09-02T17:15:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T16:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/tinariwen-the-honest-blues\/"},"modified":"2020-05-10T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-10T20:15:00","slug":"tinariwen-the-honest-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tinariwen-the-honest-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinariwen: the honest blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Since their first cassette tape in 1993, Tinariwen has been cultivating a sound, a cadence, and an art of resistance whose splendour and integrity can be heard on Amadjar<\/em>, the ninth nomadic album recorded in the Mauritanian desert.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Photos credit: Marie Planeille<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\nTwelve days: this is the time it took<\/span> to<\/span> the most famous blues caravan in the world to cover the 3000 kilometers of Sahara desert that connect Taragalte, in southern Morocco, and Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. As with previous records \u2013 <\/span>Tassili<\/span><\/i> in Algeria and <\/span>Emmaar<\/span><\/i> in California \u2013 it is in nowhere else but the desert that <\/span>Amadjar\u2019<\/span><\/i>s 13 tracks were recorded. As night falls and the fire crackles, Tinariwen once again probe the melodic power of their guitars in the folds of the friendly dunes while the conversations \u2013 incorporated as intimate fragments of this great crossing \u2013 show what they\u2019re made of (with or without the record industry): an irreducible Tamasheq identity, a visceral nostalgia, and a rebellious and poetic world view.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally from the Adrar des Ifoghas, a desert massif located between the extreme north of Mali and the south of Algeria (sadly, today, in the hands of jihadists and traffickers) <\/span>Tinariwen have been active for more than twenty years, gaining the respect of Santana and Robert Plant, and winning a Grammy in 2011.<\/span> The desert remains at the heart of their songs, such as “T\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 Maloulat” the album\u2019s majestic opener, an ode to the source of Tamasheq poetry, whose ululations and choirs are called <\/span>tende<\/span><\/i> (traditional songs). \u2018This trip made us feel like we never left home. A desert is an important place, powerful, very special. The weather is fluid, and energy circulates freely between nature and humans\u2019, sighs Eyadou Ag-Leche, bassist and calm interviewee, quietly seated amongst guitars in the Gibson showroom in Paris after shooting a video session.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tinariwen’s strings are not followers of fashion. Most often electric (and, in this respect, the blues of Ali Farka Tour\u00e9), they invariably embrace the colours of traditional Tuareg heritage. In Nouakchott, the nomadic musicians have invited those of Warren Ellis’s violin (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds). It is striking how similar they are to the imzad \u2013 the traditional violin played only by Tuareg women \u2013 and those too of country music, the American Micah Nelson on mandola and charango on \u2018Taqkal Tarha\u2019. The Mauritanian rocker, Noura Mint Seymali, heiress to the great Dimi Mint Abba, feeds the sound with her ardin (harp). Its tone backs up the record\u2019s group chants and throughout the album, women are celebrated as pillars of Tamasheq culture. You might also meet guitarists Jeiche Ould Chighaly, Cass McCombs, Stephen O’Malley or Rodolphe Burger \u2013 <\/span>Amadjar<\/span><\/i> actually tells more than just a history of strings. Pointing to the passing stranger as a guest in Tamasheq culture, <\/span>Amadjar<\/span><\/i> offers a vision of the world where hospitality and sharing are non-negotiable. Tinariwen seems to opt for a simple strategy: include to concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

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