Desert Defiance and Womanly Power: Malian diva Khaira Arby invokes the mystery, history,and heart of Timbuktu. For women, singing can be the road to personal power. When their voice is as strong as Malian vocalist Khaira Arby's, that power can move mountains, change minds and win battles. Arby's rich, potent sound aims to do just that on Timbuktu Tarab, shifting seamlessly between the edgy and progressive and the traditional and deeply rooted. Inspired by her cousin Ali Farka Toure, Arby turns to her mixed Berber and Sonrhai roots and draws on a sweet mixture of desert blues and recording sophistication, blending ripping electric guitar with the forefather of the banjo and funky drum breaks with the traditional percussion of the scraper and the calabash.