Malian group Tinariwen champion nomad's plight

By Todd Pitman

In the world of rock 'n' roll, it's cool to be a rebel.

Formed in exile in Algeria, trained in Libyan military camps, tested on the battlefield, the Malian group Tinariwen has championed the plight of Mali's fierce desert nomads for decades with an array of poet-warrior blues rooted in their own Tuareg twang.

Once distributed hand-to-hand on cassette tapes banned by the government, their music galvanized a disaffected generation and bound together a scattered culture without newspapers, radio or television stations in their native Tamashek language.

These days, the turbaned musicians are touring the likes of New York, Paris and Tokyo to promote their latest CD, "Aman Iman: Water is Life."

Many of the tunes were written years ago, before the latest rebellions plaguing Mali and uranium-rich Niger sprung up this year and last. But as singer and guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni said, the song remains the same.

Tinariwen was founded in 1979 in Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, where band members-to-be were living a hand-to-mouth existence in the wake of Mali's 1963 rebellion.

Their audience began going global after they performed at Mali's 2001 Festival in the Desert, an annual Woodstock-like series of concerts. Since then, the band has performed with Santana and Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant.

Despite their success, the group hasn't forgotten their country, and the resources it lacks: "No development, no schools, no water, no teachers," Alhousseyni said. "It's a forgotten world."