Malian Singer Khaira Arby Brings an Eclectic Mix of Timbuktu to NYC!

March 7, 2011 by John Kays
Filed under Music, Top Story

The Malian singer Khaira Arby performed in Brooklyn at the Bell House Saturday night. Jon Pareles, music critic with The New York Times, wrote a review of the show posted March 6th (Mixing Electric Funk With Joyful Malian Wails). Khaira Arby fairs from the ancient African city of Timbuktu. Khaira toured the states late last year, but it looks like she`s back for an encore. My familiarity with her music beams at a low glow, so I had to do some scrambling this morning.

YouTube has that Desert Blues song, so I watched that, and was surprised by bluesy guitar riffing against wails of rapture from Khaira. I didn`t recognize the language, so I`ll take a pass on that. Jon`s piece says she sings in Songhai, Arabic and Tamashek, so perhaps it`s one of them. I went over to itunes and discovered her record, Timbuktu Tarab. Could only manage three songs, so I got Salou, Waidio and Sougou.

I am struck with the sonic richness of the music and see it as eclectic, global and multicultural. Well, that`s a given, but I`m just now experiencing these sounds. I`m reading here that Timbuktu is this way because “the tongues and rhythms come from centuries of caravan trade, herding, mining, the colonial and the modern state.” (The Boston Globe) Maybe Khaira Arby will come to Austin some time?

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