Bombino: Saharan Guitar Storm: Apr 12, 2012

Extended forecast: severe sandstorms for Toronto and surroundings

From Niger: Bombino at the Lula Lounge

For centuries, the desert town of Agadez has served as a converging point for the great camel caravans driven by the Tuareg that link West Africa with North Africa and the Mediterranean. Born in 1980 at a nomadic camp near this dusty outpost, the young guitarist and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar was raised during an era of armed struggles for Tuareg independence and violent suppression by government forces. Songs became so central to the rebellion that the word ishumar, which was used to describe the style of song, eventually became the word for rebel fighters.

Bombino first came to the attention of adventurous music lovers when his debut album was released in 2009: “Guitars From Agadez Vol. 2″, a patchwork of live recordings in the desert. About the same time, he was tracked down by filmmaker Ron Wyman who first heard Bombino’s music a year earlier while finishing a documentary with the Tuareg nomads in Agadez: “our driver had one cassette… We listened to it over and over for about two weeks!” From this encounter resulted the film “Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion”, and the CD “Agadez”, both produced by Wyman.

Of the CD, Bombino recently told online magazine Dusted: “this album was about pouring out what has been in my heart for several years… People pay attention to music, looking for leadership, and I am aware of this when I write my songs. I think and I hope that my music helped to convince people that the war was not worth fighting — that it was time to return to Agadez, ­create tourism there and so forth… It’s time to return to home and rebuild our country.”

With this record, which has raised Bombino’s international profile and allowed him the opportunity to tour the world playing his songs, it is clear that he is ready to claim his place among Tinariwen, Tamikrest and Terakaft, the rock stars of the Tuareg world.

Bombino’s Toronto Debut, with DJ set by Eon of Bedouin Soundclash

Presented by Cubambancha & Lula Music and Arts Centre in association with media sponsor Batuki Music
Lula Lounge : Tuesday, July 12 · 8:00pm : $15 : {see event details}

sources cited:
Giving peace a chance: LLOYD GEDYE, Mail & Guardian Online
Bombino – Fighting for Tuareg freedom with a guitar: Marie-Agnès ‘mab’ BEAU & Siji Jabbar, This Is Africa
Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion: Ron Wyman, ZeroGravity Films
Cumbancha Discovery: Bombino, Agadez

From Niger: Etran Finatawa at Sunfest, London

Niger, a landlocked country bordered by Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad and Nigeria, has a very rich cultural heritage. It sits at a desert crossroads between the Berber and Arab cultures of the North and the many sub-Saharan cultures of the South. Among its eleven different ethnic groups are the Tuareg and Wodaabe, many of whom are still nomadic. They move with their camels, long-horned cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys seeking pastures along the Sahelian savannah at the fringes of the South Sahara.

Etran Finatawa formed during the 2004 Festival in the Desert near Timbuctou. The literal meaning of their name is ‘the stars of tradition’. They are the first group to use the songs and music of the Wodaabe in a modern context. They began as a group of ten musicians who wanted to unite these two nomadic cultures as a symbol of peace and reconciliaton: the touring and recording band consists of five players, two of whom are Tuareg and three, Wodaabe-Fulani.

But times are changing fast; centuries-old traditions and cultural heritages could disappear in less than a decade. Etran Finatawa and Mamane Barka, master of the Biram – the 5-string kind of harp of the Boudouma tribe in Eastern Niger – conducted a 12-day tour of workshops with school children in 2010. The 7 musicians went to 10 different schools all over Niger, where they played music with the children and explained about the traditional instruments and songs of the region, reaching over 3000 children. “Niger – The Rolling Musical Lesson!” is the documentary by German filmmaker Jean Molitor who chronicled this project.

Etran Finatawa at Sunfest in London, Ontario : July 8-10 : {see event details}

sources cited:
Etran Finatawa: Nomad’s Blues from Niger
School workshops… In Niger: World Music Network
Mamane Barka: The Last Master of the Biram

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