Tinariwen

Ever since I’d missed out on the Afro Cubism show at the North Carolina Museum of Art earlier this year, I’ve been doing a little volunteer work with Friends of World Music, setting them up with a new website and keeping its Facebook page up to date. In my work of updating these pages, I learned that Grammy-winning artists Tinariwen would be coming to Carrboro’s ArtsCenter on a Saturday night. From the moment I learned this band was coming I knew I had to go. Last night my expectations were not only met, but wildly exceeded.

When they took the stage in their traditional Tuareg garb I really didn’t know what to make of them. The audience was also a bit hesitant. Before long, though, the crowd was clapping along. Soon a dancing group of audience members took over the area in front of the stage.

Next to me, a tired Kelly has begun dozing. I told her I couldn’t keep still anymore and would be down by the stage. Soon I was ten feet in front of Tinariwen guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni and dancing in a group of very happy world music fans. I was fascinated to see this band, born in the deserts of northern Africa, connecting with a crowd in Carrboro. The crowd was returning the love and below his turban Ag Alhousseyni cracked a smile as the band drove their guitars deeper into a Saharan groove.

It didn’t matter that the band didn’t speak a lick of English: they communicated with the kind of licks that are universally understood. Tinariwen is clearly good enough to be on any stage in the world. They are world-class musicians. To see their magic work on a Triangle crowd in an intimate setting was truly surreal.

I was lucky enough to get my picture taken with a few bandmembers after the show. Viewing the photos later, I puzzled over why my eyes seemed so large until I decided I must have been in a trance: a very happy trance that only comes from sharing one of those rare, mystical musical experiences.

Once I wanted to travel to Mali to attend the fabled Festival au Desert and see bands like Tinariwen. Now that the Malian government has collapsed and rebels have seized control, my dream journey to Timbuktu has been postponed for the time being. Having Tinariwen bring their desert sound to me was almost as fulfilling. It also gave me hope that as human beings, whatever our differences are we can find common ground through good music.

[You can see all of my pictures of the show here on Picasa].