Tinariwen

Tinariwen (Tamasheq: ⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜ, with vowels ⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜⵜ,

pronounced tinariwen "deserts", plural of ténéré"desert"[1][unreliable source?]) is a Grammy Award-
winning group of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The
band was formed in 1979[2] in Tamanrasset, Algeria, but returned to Mali after a cease-fire
in the 1990s.[3] The group first started to gain a following outside the Sahara region in 2001
with the release of The Radio Tisdas Sessions, and with performances at Festival au
Désert in Mali[4] and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.[5] Their popularity rose internationally
with the release of the critically acclaimed Aman Iman in 2007. NPR calls the group
"music's true rebels",[6] AllMusic deems the group's music "a grassroots voice of
rebellion",[7] and Slate calls the group "rock 'n' roll rebels whose rebellion, for once, wasn't
just metaphorical".[8]

Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
Tinariwen was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who at age four witnessed the execution of
his father (a Tuareg rebel) during a 1963 uprising in Mali. As a child he saw a western filmin
which a cowboy played a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a tin can, a stick and
bicycle brake wire. He started to play old Tuareg and modern Arabic pop tunes.[citation needed] Ag
Alhabib first lived in Algeria in refugee camps near Bordj Badji Mokhtar and in the deserts
around the southern city of Tamanrasset, where he received a guitar from a local Arab
man.[9] Later, he resided with other Tuareg exiles in Libya and Algeria.
In the late 1970s, Ag Alhabib joined with other musicians in the Tuareg rebel community,
exploring the radical chaabi protest music of Moroccan groups like Nass El Ghiwane and Jil
Jilala; Algerian pop rai; and western rock and pop artists like Elvis Presley, Led
Zeppelin, Carlos Santana, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, Boney M, and Bob Marley. Ag Alhabib
formed a group with Alhassane Ag Touhami and brothers Inteyeden Ag Ablil and Liya Ag
Ablil in Tamanrasset, Algeria to play at parties and weddings.[10] Ag Alhabib acquired his
first real acoustic guitar in 1979.[11] While the group had no official name, people began to
call them Kel Tinariwen, which in the Tamashek language translates as "The People of the
Deserts" or "The Desert Boys."
In 1980, Libyan ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi put out a decree inviting all young Tuareg men
who were living illegally in Libya to receive full military training. Gaddafi dreamed of forming
a Saharan regiment, made up of the best young Tuareg fighters, to further his territorial
ambitions in Chad, Niger, and elsewhere. Ag Alhabib and his bandmates answered the call
and received nine months of training. They answered a similar call in 1985, this time by
leaders of the Tuareg rebel movement in Libya, and met fellow musicians Keddou Ag
Ossade, Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka "Japonais"), Sweiloum, Abouhadid, and Abdallah Ag
Alhousseyni. All sang and played guitar in various permutations. The musicians joined
together in a collective (now known as Tinariwen) in order to create songs about the issues
facing the Tuareg people, built a makeshift studio, and vowed to record music for free for
anyone who supplied a blank cassette tape. The resulting homemade cassettes were
traded widely throughout the Sahara region.
In 1989, the collective left Libya and moved to Ag Alhabib's home country of Mali, where he
returned to his home village of Tessalit for the first time in 26 years. In 1990 the Tuareg
people of Mali revolted against the government, with some members of Tinariwen
participating as rebel fighters. After a peace agreement known as the Tamanrasset
Accords was reached in January 1991, the musicians left the military and devoted
themselves to music full-time. In 1992 some of the members of Tinariwen went
to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire to record a cassette at JBZ studios. They played occasional gigs
for far-flung Tuareg communities throughout the Sahara region, gaining word-of-mouth
popularity among the Tuareg people.

International recognition (1998–2009)[edit]

Ibrahim Ag Alhabib performing with Tinariwen in Vienna during 2011

In 1998, Tinariwen came to the attention of the French world music ensemble Lo'Jo and
their manager Philippe Brix. That group traveled to a music festival in Bamako and met two
members of the Tinariwen collective. In 1999 some members of Tinariwen traveled to
France and performed with Lo'Jo under the name Azawad. The two groups organized the
January 2001 Festival au Désert in Essakane, Mali with Tinariwen as the headliners, and in
close cooperation with the Belgian Sfinks Festival. The festival brought much outside
attention to Tinariwen. By the end of 2001, Tinariwen had performed
at WOMAD and Roskilde. Their debut CD, The Radio Tisdas Sessions, was recorded
by Justin Adams and Jean-Paul Romann at the radio station of the same name (the only
Tamashek-speaking station in Kidal, Mali) and released in 2001. It was Tinariwen's first
recording to be released outside of northern Africa.
Since 2001 Tinariwen have toured regularly in Europe, North America, Japan, and
Australia; often appearing at large world music/alternative festivals
like Glastonbury, Coachella, Roskilde, Les Vieilles Charrues, WOMAD, FMM Sines,
and Printemps de Bourges. Tinariwen gained more attention overseas in 2004, with their
first UK performance at the largest free African music festival in the country, Africa Oye.
Their 2004 album Amassakoul ("The Traveller" in Tamashek) and its 2007 follow-up Aman
Iman ("Water Is Life" in Tamashek) were released worldwide and gained the notice of
celebrity fans including Carlos Santana, Robert Plant, Bono and the Edge of U2, Thom
Yorke of Radiohead, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Henry Rollins, Brian Eno, and TV On The
Radio. In 2005 Tinariwen received a BBC Award for World Music, and in 2008 they
received Germany’s prestigious Praetorius Music Prize.
Also since 2001, the Tinariwen collective has added several younger Tuareg musicians
who did not live through the military conflicts experienced by the older members but have
contributed to the collective's multi-generational evolution. New members include bassist
Eyadou Ag Leche, percussionist Said Ag Ayad, guitarist Elaga Ag Hamid, guitarist Abdallah
Ag Lamida, and vocalists Wonou Walet Sidati and the Walet Oumar sisters. The band's
2009 album Imidiwan (Tamashek for "Companions") was recorded in a mobile studio by
Jean-Paul Romann in the village of Tessalit, Mali.

Further international success (2010–present)[edit]

In 2010, Tinariwen represented Algeria in the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup in South Africa.[12] They completed 24 performances in the United States of
Americalate in the year.[13]
The band released their fifth album Tassili on August 30, 2011.[14] Tassili included guest
appearances by Nels Cline, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp
Malone of TV on the Radio.[15] Ian Brennan was a producer on the album. The album later
won the Award for Best World Music Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.[16] In July 2011 the
collective set out for a new world tour that included performances at the End of the Road
Festival in September and All Tomorrow's Parties in December.[17] Tinariwen appeared
on The Colbert Report on November 29, 2011 with Adebimpe and Malone to play "Tenere
Taqqim Tossam" and "Imidiwan Ma Tenam" from Tassili. Group members Ibrahim Ag
Alhabib, Alhassane Ag Touhami, and Eyadou Ag Leche participated in a translated
interview with Colbert.[18]
In early 2012 there was another Tuareg rebellion in Tinariwen's home region of northern
Mali, with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declaring
independence and forming the short-lived unrecognized state Azawad. In August 2012,
another party in the rebellion, the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine, denounced the
presence of popular music in the territory and stated "We do not want Satan's music. In its
place will be Quranic verses. Sharia demands this. What God commands must be
done."[19] Tinariwen was targeted specifically during this campaign.[20] In a January 2013
confrontation, most band members evaded capture, except Abdallah Ag Lamida who was
abducted while trying to save his guitars.[21][22] A few weeks later, Tinariwen reported that Ag
Lamida had been released and was "safe and free."[23]
During Ag Lamida's captivity, several other members of Tinariwen fled from the conflict and
resettled temporarily in the southwestern United States to record their sixth
album, Emmaar, with guests including Josh Klinghoffer, Fats Kaplin, Matt Sweeney,
and Saul Williams. Recording took place at Joshua Tree National Park in California, which
features a desert environment similar to that of Tinariwen's homeland.[24] Emmaar was
released worldwide in February 2014. Tinariwen then embarked on a tour of Europe and
North America, but without group leader Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who decided to remain in Mali
to attend to family issues caused by the latest political crisis. Bassist Eyadou Ag Leche
assumed the role of musical director, and a new singer/guitarist named Yad Abderrahmane
was recruited to perform Ag Alhabib's parts during the tour.[25] In 2016 the group returned to
Joshua Tree National Park to record their seventh album, Elwan, with additional recording
in France and Morocco.[26] The album was released in February 2017 and features guest
appearances by Matt Sweeney, Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan, and Alain Johannes.[27] Tinariwen
then embarked on an American tour[28] with Dengue Fever as support. The group also
toured Europe and Asia in 2017, and toured Australia, New Zealand, and North America in
2018.[29]

Musical style
The Tinariwen sound is primarily guitar-driven in the style known as assouf among the
Tuareg people. The Tinariwen guitar style has its roots in West African music, specifically
that from the "great bend" region along the Niger River, between Timbuktu and Gao. The
core elements of Tinariwen's music are traditional Tuareg melodies and rhythms including
those played on the shepherd's flute, which is primarily a man's instrument; and those
played on a one-string fiddle known as an imzad which is played by women. The primary
percussion instrument is the tindé drum which is played by women at festive occasions.
Another important traditional influence is the lute known as the teherdent, which is played
by the griotsof the Gao and Timbuktu regions. In the late 1970s, when the founding
members of Tinariwen started playing acoustic guitars, they played a traditional repertoire
adapted to the western guitar.
Other regional influences include Berber music from northern Algeria, especially
radical Kabyle singers like Ait Menguellet and Ferhat; the pop sounds of electrified rai
music of Algeria; pop singers from Algeria like Rabah Driassa;[9] pop groups from
Morocco like Nass El Ghiwane and Lemchaheb with their lute and mandol riffs; the
classical pop of Egypt; and even Bollywood music. Tinariwen was also influenced by
traditional Malian musicians, the most famous of which was Ali Farka Toure. In the early
years of the collective's history, the members were also fans of bootlegged albums by
western acts that had made their way to the Tuareg people, with favorites including albums
by Dire Straits, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Kenny Rogers and Don
Williams.
While the Tinariwen style is possibly a distant relative of blues music, via West African
music, members of Tinariwen claim to have never heard actual American blues music until
they began to travel internationally in 2001.

Band members[edit]
Tinariwen is a collective of singers, songwriters, and musicians who come together in
different combinations to play concerts and to record. This is because of the nomadic
lifestyle of the Tuareg people and the difficulties of transportation and communication in the
Sahara region. The group has never brought exactly the same line-up on its international
tours, though several members tour regularly.[25]
One of the group's founder members, Inteyeden Ag Ablil (brother of guitarist Liya Ag Ablil)
died of a virus in the desert in 1994, and singer Wonou Walet Oumar (sister of former lead
vocalist Mina Walet Oumar; not directly related to another former member, Wonou Walet
Sidati) died of a kidney infection in 2005.

Active touring members

Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni performing with Tinariwen in Viennaduring 2011

 Ibrahim Ag Alhabib – guitar, vocals

 Alhassane Ag Touhami – guitar, vocals
 Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni – acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals
 Eyadou Ag Leche – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, calabash, vocals, backing vocals
 Said Ag Ayad – percussion, backing vocals
 Elaga Ag Hamid – guitar, backing vocals
 Abdallah Ag Lamida ("Intidao") – guitar, backing vocals
 Mohammed Ag Tahada – percussion
 Yad Abderrahmane – guitar, vocals
Non-touring and previous members[edit]

 Inteyeden Ag Ablil (died 1994) – guitar, vocals

 Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka "Japonais") – guitar, vocals
 Keddou Ag Ossad – guitar, vocals
 Liya Ag Ablil – rhythm guitar, vocals
 Sweiloum – guitar, vocals
 Foy Foy – guitar, vocals
 Abouhadid – guitar, vocals
 Wonou Walet Sidati – vocals
 Kesa Ag Hamid – vocals
 Mina Walet Oumar – vocals
 Wonou Walet Oumar (died 2005) – vocals