Tinariwen

Tinariwen

I went to see this band when they toured Scotland, wonderfully earthy feel and truly hypnotic, their performance and message truly kindled my spirit and deeply touched my soul.

Saharan band Tinariwen tour Scotland in March as part of the Tune Up programme.


Background

Tinariwen originated in the Sahara regions of north Africa during its decades of political upheaval.


tinariwen.com

Band Members It's often said that every Touareg in the southern Sahara is a member of Tinariwen, such is the reach and importance of the band in their home territory. It’s true that dozens of different people have played, danced and sung with the band during their long history. Various crucial participants in the Tinariwen story are now for various reasons no longer permanent fixtures in the band. These include founder member Inteyeden, who died of a mysterious illness in 1994, legendary rebel and fearless desert groover Kheddou, who along with rhythm-guitarist extraordinaire Djarra have now formed a new band called Terakaft (‘The Caravan’), singer Wounou Wallet Oumar, sister of Mina, who died of a kidney infection in 2005 and bassist Sweiloum, who is taking vacation from music.

Meanwhile, here are the active members of Tinariwen:

Ibrahim AG ALHABIB aka ‘Abaraybone’ – Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar
The man who invented the Tamashek electric guitar style whilst a young exile in Tamanrasset in Southern Algeria. The inspiration and the source of the whole Tinariwen story.



Hassan AG TOUHAMI aka ‘Abin Abin’ aka ‘Le Lion du D..sert’ aka ‘Aharr’ – Lead Vocals, Guitar & Dance
The best dancer and vibemaster between Algiers and the banks of the Niger River, Hassan co-founded the group with Ibrahim back in 1979…favourite saying: “..a c’est pour les oiseaux ..a…n’a vaut rien!!”



Abdallah AG ALHOUSSEYNI aka ‘Catastrophe’ – Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
Unlike Ibrahim and Hassan, who come from Tessalit, Abdallah is a from a clan of marabouts or holymen who live in nomad camps in the Tamesna, a vast arid desert east of Kidal. Abdallah joined Tinariwen in the late 1980s, when they were living in the military camp near Tripoli in Libya. He fought the Touareg rebellion of 1990-1 alongside Ibrahim, Hassan, Kheddou and Japonias.



Mohammed AG ITLALE aka ‘Japonais’
One of the most respected and revered poets in northeastern Mali, but too wild to be part of the touring party, Japonais contributed two tracks to the latest album ‘Aman Iman’ and spends his time with his three daughters in Tessalit.



Eyadou AG LECHE – Bass, Backing Vocals, Calabash
Eyadou has been Tinariwen’s bassist since 2003, and taking more of a central role in the creative process.



Said AG AYAD – Percussion & Backing Vocals
The man who can make a djembe sound like a fulll rock’n’roll drumkit.



Elaga AG HAMID – Rhythm Guitar & Backing Vocals
As self-effacing as his guitar chopping is cutting, and spot-on. You have to strain hard to see Elaga in concert, hiding behind Said and Eyadou.



Abdallah AG LAMIDA aka ‘Intidao’ – Guitar & Backing Vocals
The most recent addition to the Tinariwen line-up, and learning super-fast.



Mina WALET OUMAR – Backing vocals & Hand-claps
Since the sad loss of her sister Wounou, Mina has been treading the boards bravely as Tinariwen’s sole female member. She’s taking a break later in 2007 to have a baby (good luck)

The 1960s saw the first Touareg rebellion against the central Mali government. Ibrahim’s father was killed by soldiers for helping the rebels, and the young boy fled the Adrar des Iforas region (northeast Mail) with his grandmother into exile in southern Algeria. He became a wanderer, travelling Algeria and Libya doing odd jobs.

From a young age Ibrahim had been making music on self-made bush guitars, usually made out of a jerry-can, bicycle brake-wire and a stick. He played ancient Touraeg melodies and also imitated the north Malian blues guitar style that was taking off through musicians like Ali Farka Touré and Boubacar Traoré. He was also influenced by the musics of other regions he’d travelled through in his youth.

In 1979, he arrived in the southern Algerian desert oasis of Tamanrasset, a place favoured by exiled Touareg men at the time. It was also where he saw his first ever acoustic guitar, which he persuaded its owner to give it to him. In Tamanrasset he met two other Touaregs from his home region, Hassan Touhami and Inteyeden Ag Ableline. Together with them and two other women singers, Ibrahim formed a band. Its first name included the words 'Taghreft' (a complex word meaning 'the rebuilding', 'the reconstruction' or 'edification', but also the crew or the community who carry out this regeneration) and 'Tinariwen' (simply the plural of 'Ténéré', which means 'desert', 'land' or 'empty place'). Taghreft Tinariwen started to play for the exiled Touareg community and performed at a festival in Algiers. They asked another local band, Sawt El Hoggar, to help them out with equipment, and it was then that Ibrahim played an electric guitar for the first time.

Taghreft Tinariwen started to take on the role of the musical voice of the ishumaren, the exiled Touareg driven from their homes by droughts, political conflict and poverty in the 1970s and 1980s. The revolutionary Touareg movement, the MPA (Mouvement Populaire de l'Azawad), saw the potential in fostering the group's talent, and provided them with money for basic equipment and a rehearsal space. Tinariwen's songs of hope, struggle, pain, exile and nostalgia were carried to the Tamashek-speaking people by a ‘cassette-to-cassette ghetto-blaster grapevine’.

The older members of Tinariwen including Ibrahim, Hassan, Japonais, Kheddou, Inteyeden and Abdallah, took part in the rebellion which broke out in Niger in the summer of 1990.


When peace came to the southern Sahara in 1996, many of the band members refused offers of reintegration into the Malian army or administration and decided to become full time musicians.

Tinariwen’s music began spreading beyond their southern Saharan home, starting with a brief tour of France in 1999 and the first Festival in the Desert, followed by their debut CD, Radio Tisdas, and tours of Europe and USA. Their latest album, Aman Iman: Water Is Life was released worldwide in February and March 2007.