Songs for Desert Refugees...a compilation in aid of the refugees from Northern Mali

On January 17, 2012, insurgents fighting for the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (NMLA) attacked the town of Menaka in the far east of Mali. The fighting soon spread all over the deserts of northern Mali, provoking the most serious crisis that the country had faced since independence in 1960. Tens of thousands of Touareg, Songhoi, Peulh and Arab people fled from the fighting to the relative safety of neighboring countries. The result was the worst refugee crisis in the southern Sahara in decades. 

Songs for Desert Refugees features a superb mix of desert music, including rare or unreleased tracks by some of the world's best-known Touareg groups, from Mali (Tinariwen, Tamikrest, Terakaft, Tartit), Niger (Bombino, Toumast, Etran Finatawa) and Algeria (Nabil Baly Othmani, Faris). The music on this compilation is the sound of what the Malian deserts can be; intense, joyful, beautiful, proud, poetic and peaceful. It is dedicated to all those who are working to make it so again. All involved in producing the album gave their services for free. Other artists include: Ibrahim Djo Experience, Amanar and Tadalat.

Songs for Desert Refugees

As with 2005's Rough Guide to the Sahara, the 12 tracks, most previously unreleased and all postdating that prophetic piece of genre-making, progress like a single expression toward the showy new jack guitars of Tadalat and Bombino and the overdue female voices of Toumast and Tamikrest. --MSNBC Expert Witness

...the album as it stands is masterful, and certainly one of the strongest world music albums of the year. It serves equally well as an introduction to this exciting strain of guitar-based African music and as a new set of tunes for listeners already familiar with the genre. --Popmatters

  1. Amous Idraout Assouf d'Alwa (Tinariwen)
  2. Warktifed (Tamikrest)
  3. Blues du Désert Part 1 (Ibrahim Djo Experience)
  4. Derhan Alkher (Faris & Terakaft)
  5. Teswa Ténéré Desert Version (Nabil Baly Othmani)
  6. Ténéré (Amanar)
  7. Taghdart (Tadalat)
  8. Gourma (Etran Finatawa)
  9. Nak Essanagh (Terakaft)
  10. Aïtma (Toumast)
  11. Tigrawahi Tikma Live Version (Bombino)
  12. Tihou Beyatene (Tartit)

Ali Farka Touré...Niafunké...West African blues..a traditional album concerning Mali

Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, 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" and number 37 on Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".


As the first African blues man to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré was often known as "the African John Lee Hooker". Musically, the many superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John Lee Hooker's hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languages, mostly Songhay, Fulfulde, Tamasheq or Bambara as on his breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré, which established his reputation in the world music community.

Niafunké was released in 1999. The title reflects the name of the village in Mali where it was recorded. It is largely a traditional album concerning Mali.

Niafunke

Within the album liner notes Touré discusses his motivation for creating the album and how the music might relate to its audience. "This record is more real, more authentic. It was recorded in the place where the music belongs - deep Mali. We were in the middle of the landscape which inspired the music and that in turn inspired myself and the musicians. My music is about where I come from and our way of life and it is full of important messages for Africans. In the West perhaps this music is just entertainment and I don't expect people to understand. But I hope some might take the time to listen and learn." — Ali Farka Touré,

Niafunké marked the first of a series of albums he recorded towards the end of his career in his home town. The album was released around the same time he retired to his farm in a remote region of Mali.

find out more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Farka_Touré

official website: http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk/#Ali_Farka_Toure

The Rough Guide to West African Music

If you haven't been exposed to West African music, then this is the perfect introduction. Some of the songs are absolutely captivating, Oumou Sangare and Ali Farka Toure especially. The selections aren't limited to bongo drums and acapella chants either, with other artists such as Super Rail Band, Toumani Diabate, Kante Manfila, Bajourou, Orchestra Baobab and Mansour Seck. A brilliantly sourced and produced album. 

 click here for more information

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