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Ensemble Tartit plays 'gut bucket blues' from Timbuktu

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King County Journal, Ensemble Tartit plays 'gut bucket blues' from Timbuktu >>

Just when you think the Seattle scene has explored every conceivable form of music, along comes a new one, in this case music from Timbuktu.

You read that right: Timbuktu; which actually is a town on the Niger River in upper Mali. It is indeed remote -- at least to people from the rest of the world. To the Tuaregs who live there, it is perfectly proximate. It is home. Still, it is unlike anywhere else on Earth and, as a result, its music is unlike any other on earth. Hence, the popularity of Ensemble Tartit, which will perform in concert at the University of Washington's Meany Hall, Saturday.

The group was formed in refugee camps in Burkina Faso, a country in the Volta River Basin of West Africa, in the early '90s. The Tuaregs ended up there after fleeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Malian army and black tribal groups in the South Sahara.

They brought with them a very old and very complex culture with its roots in the Berber peoples of Morocco. They also brought with them a music that caught the ear of Belgian relief workers at the refugee camp. It was like nothing they had ever heard and, more importantly, its was extraordinarily beautiful. So, the Belgians helped organized Ensemble Tartit (Tartit means ``union'' in Tuareg) and arranged for them to perform at the Voix des Femmes Festival in Leige, in 1995.

They were a hit and soon were performing all over Europe. They have produced two CDs, ``Amazagh: Ensemble Tarti, Tuaregs Kel Antessar'' (Fonti Musicali, 1997) and ``Ichichilla'' (Network, 2000). They are perhaps best-known to American audiences for their singing in Zap Mama's record ``Jogging to Timbuktu.'' They also are regulars in the WOMAD Festival circuit.

Their music is described as ``earthy,'' with some critics tagging it ``gut-bucket blues, Sahara-style.'' It is based on call and response vocals by women's choruses to the accompaniment of Tuareg instruments. Those include the imzad, a single-string fiddle made from a gourd covered with goatskin; the tinde, a tubular percussion instrument and the tehardant, a three-stringed lute. They also use wooden flutes of various designs. For all kinds of complex cultural reasons, some of the instruments are played only by men, some only by women. Most of the choral singing is done by women. Men perform as solo singers and as poets and raconteurs.

One of the things the ensemble had to get used to was singing to paying audiences. Music is a communal activity in Tuareg culture and the idea of a performing was foreign to them. The concept of culturally authentic music also was foreign to them. While their repertoire includes a number of traditional Tuareg pieces, the ensemble's members are constantly writing new stuff, much of it incorporating musical influences from other parts of the world.

In addition to hosting the ensemble's concert, the UW will hold a free community forum, ``Timbuktu--A Revival: What Relevance for Contemporary Africa?'' 6-7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kane Hall,. The forum, led by Sandra Chair, associate director of the UW Program on Africa, will explore the cultural and political heritage of Timbuktu and efforts to preserve the city's manuscripts from the 12th to 19th centuries.

 04/25/03 >> go there
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