From the blood-stained sands of Mali and Algeria, the familiar and fascinating music of Tinariwen

Publicity shot for Tinariwen's latest, "Tassili," from ANTI- records.

Ibrahim ag Alhabib was only a toddler when he saw his father abducted and executed by Mali’s government forces, who were working to suppress a Touareg rebellion. The nomadic berber tribe had risen up against what they perceived as government tyranny and suppression against their way of life, and paid a steep and swift price.

In his teens, Ibrahim followed a man with a guitar to his home and listened intently as he played Arabic folk music. The man taught him how to play it, and after several sessions Ibrahim bought the guitar from him. Shortly after, he met other musicians who had developed a passion for music through bootlegs of records from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Bob Dylan, among others. The music was so far removed from their world as to be alien in its form and context, but not to their ears. In it they heard a kinship and familiarity with their own musical traditions. In 1979 they formed Tinariwen in the South of Algeria. It comes from a nickname given to them by fellow tribesmen: “kel Tinariwen,” or “boys of the bush.” The word “Tinariwen” itself roughly translates to desert, but has a closer connotation to what we would consider the countryside.

The group traveled throughout West Africa, first as soldiers belonging to an army who in turn belonged to no one, then simply as musicians. Word spread regionally through bootlegged cassette tapes recorded in local radio stations, making Tinariwen voices of the Touareg resistance.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, word spread throughout the Western hemisphere of warrior poets who were playing an electric blues that had sprung up organically from their culture and struggles. They gained a dedicated and fierce following from what we consider to be music’s elite, with the likes of Robert Plant and Carlos Santana singing their praises and distributing whatever recorded material they could acquire to friends and family members.

I purchased their latest release, “Tassili,” through Amazon. The irony in downloading mp3s of a band whose roots lie in a desert nomadic culture was not lost on me.

It’s been eight days and I’m still obsessed with this record. It is strange how music rooted in nomadic traditions could be so alien yet strike something in my psyche. I have no idea what’s being sung, but I knew the feelings behind it without even having read the band’s biography.

Others have made the same observation, and the only conclusion reached by critics and those who represent the group is that there may be a distant relation to the blues through an ancestral connection. Tinariwen hails from the Western portion of Africa, which is also where many slaves were ripped from their homes and transplanted against their will to our own shores. From their travails came the blues, as organically as Tinariwen grew their sound out of frustrations and sadness over social injustices and tragedies visited on their families and livelihoods.

On their latest recording (their first for ANTI- records, which also home to local triumph Sean Rowe) the group decided to forego their electric guitars and recorded the album acoustically in the sand and canyons of Algeria near the Libyan border. I mean that literally, as the only walls they had around them came from the occasional tent.

They’re joined on the record by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe. Also appearing are the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who lend their instruments to the powerful and foreboding “Ya Massinagh.”

It’s not enough for me to say that “Tassili” is the most fascinating record I’ve heard in years. It has, rather, reignited an appreciation for the role of music in our lives and culture. And by “our” I mean all of humanity, from the young frustrated American teenager growing into a counter-culture sensation to the orphaned child in the deserts of Mali who grows to become a warrior that yearns for peace.

LINKS:

• Tinariwen on YouTube – Includes numerous performances, videos, and a brief documentary on the group.
• Blues from the Desert, Recorded On Site (The New York Times, 8/31/2011)

Promotional video for the new album from ANTI- records: