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New Mexico Concert Review
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Dirty Linen, New Mexico Concert Review >>
Lahri Bond (Amherst, MA)
TINARIWEN
The Paramount, Santa Fe, New Mexico October 2004
Dark-skinned and swathed in indigo and white wind-guarding headscarves, flowing robes, tattoos, and traditional jewelry, the male and female members of Tinariwen swept onto the stage of Santa Fe's Paramount like a Sahara storm. The audience gasped audibly as Tinariwen, the Tuareg trad-rock band whose group name translates as "the deserts," opened with a rolling cappella chant in its native Tamashek language. Then Tinariwen's swordlike electric guitars, rippling traditional drums, flutes, syncopated handclaps, and keening vocals kicked in. The crowd roiled and whirled. Pure, untranslated, unfiltered joy filled the packed New Mexico nightclub as Tinariwen's nomad voodoo soul worked its spell on all present.
Tinariwen came a long way for this show. Founded two decades ago as rebel rock band of soldier-poets in the crucible of guerrilla warfare that was then a way of life for the embattled, outgunned Tuareg minority of Mali, West Africa, these tough desert combat vets literally burned their Kalashnikovs and grenades in a joyous 1996 peace ceremony. Since then, they have devoted themselves full time to making music and to encouraging reconciliation, cultural survival, and respect for the values of our world's indigenous peoples.
A noble calling, indeed. Tinariwen has put its admirable beliefs into effect by spearheading the annual pro-peace Festival in the Desert held annually at Timbuktu, which is documented in the DVD Festival in the Desert (World Village Records). It has recorded (sometimes through necessary use of solar cells) and toured behind its series of groundbreaking world-beat albums, starting with The Radio Tisdas Sessions couple of years back. Its latest CD, Amassakoul, is drawing raves internationally. European rock stars like Robert Plant and Justin Adams and astute writers like Andy Morgan have flocked to Tinariwen's cause and joined the band onstage and in the studio. Its yearly Timbuktu festival has featured American Indian heavy-rockers Blackfire and Mali master musician Ali Farka Toure, among others.
Tinariwen's Santa Fe appearance was one stop on its first-ever North American tour. The band had specifically asked to perform in the American Southwest because they had heard the region resembled its members' home land in important ways. In fact, Tinariwen songwriter-spokesman Abdallah Abdoulahi Ag Alhousseini reported that the band members were rejuvenated by their pre-performance visit to the Santo Domingo Native American pueblo just south of Santa Fe that afternoon. 'The bread there was the same as our own bread, the buildings were like ours, built from sand and mud, and the people were very much like us. We loved it there. We felt back home. For nomads, which we are, that is the most important feeling. Home, and its people, is most important to us, though we may rarely get there," said Abdallah, with the quiet eloquence for which he and Tinariwen are famed.
Onstage, Tinariwen kept an entrancing, blues-inflected groove going throughout the evening. No surprise, as the blues had its ancient African origins precisely in the south Sahara Niger River bend territory from which Tinariwen hails. The triple guitars shot lightning-like bursts of energy into the lilting background of vocal harmonies, while the rapid rhythmic handclaps, illations, and gleeful smiles of female singer Mina Wallet Oumar combined with the gestures and exhortations of male singer-guitarist-dancemaster Hassan (Alhassane Touhami) to draw the crowd deeper and deeper into their collective dance. Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, founder of the band and a national hero among the Tuareg/Tamashek a striking, wild-locked Bob Marley figure blazed on guitar as Abdallah soared along on his own guitar and the riddim section of bassist Eyadou Ag Leche and drummer Said Ag Ayad held the steady core of Tinariwen's dance flame.
That fire-dance accelerated to hip-hop frenzy during Abdallah's stunning Tamashck rap composition. "Arawan." which climaxed Tinariwen's performance. It is a song celebrating individual dignity and spirit, while warning that the desert is ever encroaching upon that spirit. Metaphor and literal social-environmental truth mix scamlessly in this and other Tinariwen songs. The impact is stunning, both musically and lyrically.
Tinariwen sings of sad losses, of the impending death of the caravan camel cultures and their storied traditions, but it does not sing in despair. Rather, embracing the communication revolution that has brought Tinariwen itself and the desert tribes for which it speaks out of isolation into world consciousness, this band of poets speaks of hope. And Tinariwen shares that hope with all of us in its joyful songs of freedom and in such joyous performances as this memorable night in Santa Fe.
Bill Nevins (Albuquerque, NM) 02/01/05
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