desert blues | Musicosity

Etran Finatawa

Etran Finatawa was formed as a band at the time of the 2004 Festival in the Desert near Timbuctou. The literal meaning of their name is ‘the stars of tradition’. They are the first group to use the songs and music of the Wodaabe in a modern context. They began as a group of ten musicians who wanted to unite these two nomadic cultures as a symbol of peace and reconciliaton. The touring and recording band consists of six players three of whom are Tuareg and three, Wodaabe-Fulani.

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Group Doueh

"If you think you’ve heard all the great electric guitar styles in the world, think again. This Saharan sand-blizzard of fine-crushed glass will grind your face to a bloody pulp. Group Doueh play raw and unfiltered Saharawi music from the former colonial Spanish outpost of the Western Sahara. Doueh (pronounced “Doo-way”) is their leader and a master of the electric guitar. He’s been performing since he was a child playing in many groups before finally creating his own in the 1980’s. Doueh says he’s Influenced by western pop and rock music especially Jimi Hendrix and James Brown.

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Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara

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Khaira Arby

Khaïra Arby (sometimes spelled Haira) "The Nightingale of the North" is a singer from Mali. She is from the desert- from Agouni, north of Timbuktu, Mali, and cousin to Ali Farka Touré. She sings in Sonrai, Arabic, Tamashek, accompanied by instruments and rhythms just as varied, with electric guitar and trickling beats, calabash, traditional violin and guitar, and drumming that creates that abrupt squared sound of the music from that part of Mali.

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Awesome Tapes from Africa

world

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Aziza Brahim

Aziza is a Saharawi from Western Sahara, born in a refugee camp in Algeria. At the age of 11 Aziza received a schoolarship to study in Cube where she spent seven years, before abandoning her studies in order to dedicate herself to music. She won the first prize in a national song competition in a cultural festival of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic - the self-proclaimed Saharawi state, exiled in the refugee camps and recognized by over 80 countries.

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The Kill Devil Hills

The Kill Devil Hills are a 6 piece country, swampy blues band from Perth, Western Australia. Their 2004 release Heathen Songs was followed in 2006 by The Drought, an album which has been widely praised by local reviews. The multi-award-winning group spent the best part of 2009 completing their third album,

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Vieux Farka Toure

This is a bogus artist, please see Vieux Farka Touré. Thank you.

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Tamikrest

Tamikrest are a group of young Touareg musicians from the far north of Mali.

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Ali Farka Toure

Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.

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paint-the-world-in-colour

radioparadise

setting my soul alight

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Terakaft

Terakaft is a gang of guitarists, in the same vein as Tinariwen. Nothing astonishing about that if you consider that Terakaft was founded by Kedou and Diara, two formative and historical guitarists from Tinariwen. Moreover Kedou accompanied Tinariwen to the very first Festival with the Desert by Chock-Essako in January 2001, and contributes four songs on their first album The Radio Tisdas Sessions.