Prensa
DESERT
BLUES: “NUESTRA
MÚSICA
ES UN MENSAJE
DE ENCUENTRO,
ENTENDIMIENTO
Y TOLERANCIA”
(Lanuza, 16 de julio de 2004).- Tres artistas diferentes con un
proyecto común: aglutinar las distintas músicas y lenguas de
Mali. Es el objetivo de Desert Blues, el espectáculo que protagonizan
Afel Bocoum, Habib Koite y el grupo Tartit, liderado por una mujer (Mohamedoune
Fadimata). Su música fusiona los ritmos africanos con el blues para
transmitir un mensaje de paz y encuentro en un país en el que se hablan
hasta 30 lenguas diferentes y en el que las peculiaridades de los distintos
grupos acaban a menudo en conflictos sociales.
“Las
lenguas se
convierten
a veces en
muros invisibles
que separan
a los grupos”,
ha explicado
Koite en la
rueda de prensa
previa al concierto. “Desert
Blues –afirma-
pretende lanzar
a través
de la música
un mensaje
de encuentro,
entendimiento
y tolerancia”.
En este sentido,
destaca el éxito
de una de sus
canciones,
en la que empleó un
ritmo musical
del norte y
una lengua
del sur para
contar la historia
de amor entre
una joven pareja
de grupos diferentes.
Bocoum ha incidido
además
en que la música
es también
un instrumento
para concienciar
a la gente
sobre cuestiones
como el sida.
Los
integrantes
del “Blues
del Desierto” han
resaltado además
lo mucho que
les une con
el blues americano,
como se ha
puesto de manifiesto
en los discos
realizados
por algunos
productores
estadounidenses
e incluso en
un ciclo de
películas
coordinadas
por Martin
Scorsese, las
primera de
las cuales –dirigida
por Spike Lee-
se centraba
en Mali.
“En
nuestro país
existe una
amalgama de
músicas
y estilos,
pretendemos
fusionarlas
y lograr un
proyecto común
representativo
de Mali y de
toda la música
del desierto”,
aseguran. En
los propios
artistas de
Desert Blues
se dan esas
diferencias.
Afel Bocoum
y Tartit, del
norte del país,
profundizan
más
en las raíces
tradicionales
y Koite, de
la capital
-Bamako- tiene
una mayor influencia
de las músicas
europeas. Fadimata,
la líder
de Tartit –grupo
formado por
tuaregs y nómadas
del desierto-,
ha explicado
que la simbiosis
en su grupo
se da entre
hombres y mujeres,
aunque hasta
cierto punto,
ya que hay
instrumentos
reservados
sólo
para ellos
o para ellas.
Tartit
- Ichichila
- Network
2003
This is a very mixed up world. Witness evidence direct from the miniscule but
relatively well-publicized third annual Festival in the Desert, held this January
in a Saharan oasis called Essakane. That's near Timbuktu, which is in Mali if
you didn't know. Groups from all over the country joined like-minded spirits
from France, Mauritania, Niger, and the US for three days of musical celebration.
Midway through the last day, Robert Plant stepped up to sing “Whole Lotta
Love.” Now is that weird or what? Never mind the camel parade, the camel
race, or the sand hockey. This was an experience few would forget.
The mostly-female group known as Tartit performed on the first day to an eager
reception. The group essentially formed in a Burkina Faso refugee camp from desperate
survivors of a terrible drought and civil war. According to Mama Walet Amoumine, “We
are almost all from the same family. We are cousins.” They performed their
first gig at the Voix des Femmes festival in Belgium and the brand new Ichichila
(recorded in Mali, of course) is their first and only US release.
The nomadic Kel Tamashek from the international region around Northern Mali are
also known as tuaregs, the “forsaken of God,” to Arabs—but
they prefer the more accurate term that emphasizes their common language. In
a region where society tends to be male-dominated, Kel Tamashek women play forward
and outspoken roles. Thus Tartit. Their music is built from group vocals, centered
and organized by the imzad (one-stringed gourd-fiddle), tehardent (three-stringed
banjo), and tind? (small wooden mortar covered with goatskin)—with plenty
of well-timed clapping.
“Iya Heniya,” the second track, tells the story of a woman whose
husband forsakes her for a mistress. During the choruses, the higher lead voice
sings straightforward, understated lines with occasional trill-like embellishments.
Her call is always accompanied by a lower-pitched group response, call-and-response
in its simplest and most direct form. The next song has a North African flavor,
more trance-like in its square rhythms and repeated (male) chorus, more aligned
with the minor harmonies that come from Arabic music. Later, an electric guitar—gasp!
but wait, this is a mixed up world—emphasizes the very strong blues character
that pervades much of this music. Not many chord changes, and certainly no 12-bar
forms, but nevertheless a strong groove and that same sense of directly stated
emotion.
In the end the thing that makes Tartit stand out is the unique identity the Kel
Tamashek have carved out in the Sahara, drawing from Arab and West African sources,
Islam and other beliefs, plus their own ancient history and distinctive culture.
It's impossible to define Ichichila on any terms except for its own. And that's
reason enough to check out this group.
Visit Network on the web. Note: Tartit is currently on tour this April.
The
Off-Beat Path & Wooden
Mortars of Nomads
- "Tuaregs" in
America, Spring
2003 - “Splendid!”–Robert
Plant, upon seeing
Tartit at the Festival
in the Desert
