Yve Ngoo

April 2005 - Tea with Tinariwen

Welcome back to Africa On Your Street from the North East.

• African Soul Rebels tour
• Tea with Tinariwen
• The Rise and Rise of Rai
• Robert Maseko & Africa 05
• Yve Ngoo's Recommended CDs

African Soul Rebels tour

On one of the coldest and snowiest days this winter, the African Soul Rebels rolled into town to shine some African sun on the Sage Gateshead . The African Soul Rebels tour is an ambitious, fresh showcase bringing together some of the most diverse sounds of the big continent - from Rachid Taha's Arabic rai music, Senegal's rap stars Daara J, to the melodic camel rock of the sensational Tinariwen. The range and breadth of pan-African multicultural influences and musical fusions continues to delight.

Ever since the Sage Gateshead announced its programme of world music for 2005, the Malian Touaregs, Tinariwen were the most eagerly anticipated. The buzz they created was astounding - the North East has really not seen or heard anything like it before.

Tea with Tinariwen

Before they took to the stage, Tinariwen kindly agreed to an interview. Over a steaming glass of sweet Touareg tea - skilfully brewed up on a camping stove, and through the heady smoke of French tobacco, they spoke excitedly of their scoop for Best Act (Africa) in the Radio 3 Awards for World Music.

Yve: On behalf of Africa on Your Street, welcome to the Sage Gateshead. It's a great honour to have you here in this wonderful new building, on your first visit to the North East of England. However, your music aside, not many people in the UK actually know about the Touareg people. You've been hailed as musical ambassadors for the Touaregs, but how often are you able to return home, and for a Nomadic people, where is home?

Tinariwen: Every Nomad has his own territory. We're not Nomads throughout the Sahara, it's just a bit which we actually live in and consider home. But wherever we are in the world, if we find some landscape that reminds us of the part of the desert we come from, then we feel at home. For instance, when we were in Arizona, New Mexico, it has a similar landscape, so we felt at home.

Yve: Tinariwen were nominated in two categories in the Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2005. How important is winning awards?

Tinariwen: If you compare what we were doing five or six years ago, we were only known by our own people, in our own region. Even the fact we are here, playing a concert, right here tonight is extraordinary and beyond that, the fact we have won this prize, is something that we never imagined. Winning the award has created such an impact. There has been a lot of help brought to the desert over the last few years, for education, agriculture and administration for example, but one of the things that has been left behind a bit, is music, as people have considered other priorities. So winning the Award is a marker of how successful this music can be, that it needs to be sustained and developed.

Yve: Your particular style of music attracts a lot of attention and a lot of labels - it's been described as 'Desert Blues', 'Camel Rock' and even likened to rockers, the White Stripes! What are your main influences?

Tinariwen: Originally, the music is based on our own traditional sounds. The closest link we have found from outside Africa is the Blues. We have a word in our language - 'Assouof', which describes a feeling of loss, exile, and nostalgia which we find uncannily like the Blues. When we play our music, it is like the Blues. It's the desert Blues, the Tinariwen Blues - a bit like the Bluesmen of the Mississippi.

Yve: And, the Blues, they came from the slaves, and the slaves came from Africa, so in many ways the sound has come full circle. Are there any Western artists you would like to collaborate with - or is there anyone who has expressed a desire to work with you?

Tinariwen: There have been so many people who expressed an interest in working with us. Robert Plant made it out to the Desert in 2003 and the way he sang really touched people - even though many people did not know about him. We also met Taj Mahal in America, and ended up playing a concert with him both in the US and in London; we feel there is something very special there.

Yve: What does 2005 hold for Tinariwen?

Tinariwen: The African Soul Rebels tour runs through till April 2005. We're touring America in May, June and July, then Japan. In October, we're going back home to record our third album, and then at the end of the year, there's always a rendezvous in the desert, as well as the Festival Touareg d'Essouk, near Kidal, where we live. These festivals are very important, as it's a means of bringing the world to the desert.

Yve: Now before you go, can I just ask about the tea you're brewing?

Tinariwen: Tea is very important in the Touareg culture, for three main reasons; it helps when you're tired, due to the fact it's heavily sweetened - it gives you a real boost, a bit like an espresso. Also it's a perfect way showing hospitality when people come to your home and it gives young people a focus when they hang out together.

The Rise and Rise of Rai

It seems that the UK has suddenly woken up to 'rai' - infectious rootsy Arabic-tinged pop that seems to have had the rest of the world dancing for years. A bit like the proverbial bus, you wait years for rai, then two of the world's biggest rai musicians come along at once!

You may have seen the excellent (recent) episode of the South Bank Show, featuring the work of two of the leading exponents of rai music, Khaled and Rachid Taha. But if you were even luckier - you may have been at the Sage Gateshead for Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2005, where Khaled performed to an ecstatic audience, including members of the local North Africa community who, quite rightfully, call Khaled the Algerian Elvis.

The main concert hall in the Sage Gateshead was a fitting arena for the live broadcast of the Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2005, acoustically tuned to perfection, the sound was cacophonous and the lighting ethereal. It is the perfect venue for world music!

Robert Maseko & Africa 05

Robert Maseko, the North East based master of afrobeat, proudly (and loudly) announced the launch of his new website . You can now follow Robert's every movement as he continues to delight the nation with his unique blend of African hip-swinging rumba.

And finally - Africa 05 is inviting Africans or people with African roots living in the north east of England to share experiences of their culture. Whether it's an African club, a restaurant, a Nigerian wedding, a hair salon, or a record collection, the stories and pictures will appear on a BBC online gallery.

Bisou,

Yve

Yve Ngoo's Recommended CDs

World Psychedelic Classics 3 - Love's A Real Thing - The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa

Altraf Gnawa Group - Gnawa music from Morocco

Nuru Kane and Bayefall Gnawa

Check out my recommended CDs this month in the CD Reviews section or go to Music Search to look at our archive of recommended CDs.