“If we stay silent, it will be the end of us,” Mdou Moctar sings in French on the title track of his new album, Afrique Victime (Matador). If there’s one thing you can say for sure about Moctar, it’s that he’s not silent. The Nigerien guitarist keeps one hand on the tradition of Saharan Tuareg […]
Tag: Tuareg
Tuareg guitar group Les Filles de Illighadad lock into their groove as a touring band
Fatour Seidi Ghali is surely not the first person to become enamored of an older sibling’s guitar. When she was about ten, her older brother, Ahmoudou Madassane (who currently plays rhythm guitar for Mdou Moctar), brought a guitar from Libya back to their home in Illighadad, Niger. Since Tuareg girls aren’t encouraged to pick up […]
Hairspray at Pritzker Pavilion and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
The film A Quiet Place and more goings-on 6/4-6/7.
The brightest lights at the 2017 World Music Festival
The World Music Festival is a constellation of international stars—including Afrobeat scion Seun Kuti, rambunctious Cape Verdean accordionist Bitori, and Afro-Venezuelan flame keeper Betsayda Machado.
Aram Shelton returns for a tour of Chicago
Plus: A Chicago label releases a comp of Mauritanian guitar, the core of CoCoComa becomes the Marble Vanity