Crossroads Music presents:
ETRAN FINATAWA
Nomad Blues from Niger's Tuareg and Wodaabe
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30 pm
48th St. and Baltimore Ave. in West Philadelphia (in Calvary Church)
http://www.crossroadsconcerts.org or 215-729-1028
Etran Finatawa’s musicians come from Niger, a landlocked country in
West Africa bordered by Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad and Nigeria. A
desert crossroads between the Berber and Arab cultures of the North
and the many sub-Saharan cultures of the South, Niger is home to
eleven different ethnic groups including the traditionally nomadic
Tuareg and Wodaabe, many of whom still move with their camels, long-
horned cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys seeking pastures along the
fringes of the Sahara, sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict
over water, pasture, and other resources.
The band, whose name means "stars of tradition" was formed in 2004 at
the Festival in the Desert near Timbuctou by a group of ten Tuareg and
Wodaabe musicians who wanted to unite these two nomadic cultures as a
symbol of peace and reconciliaton. They work together to be strong and
to give their culture a future in this changing world. The music of
the two tribes is very different but the way it has been combined has
produced a powerful and hypnotic sound and a new musical style of
Nomad Blues. In Niger their music has a cult following and their songs
are sung by the young and school children all over the country, and in
recent years they have become hits on the European festival circuit as
well, receiving a BBC World Music Award in 2007.
Etran Finatawa compose and sing songs in two different languages, the
Tuareg Tamashek and the Wodaabe Fulfulde, but all tell tales from
nomadic life: isolation and liberty, extreme hardship and poverty, of
a harsh climate, of beautiful women and happy days, of life giving
animals and handsome beasts, of festivities and families, of stars and
desert storms. Some of their songs are healing songs as both cultures
use music as a therapy. In this interchange of modern and traditional
songs. Handclapping and rich percussion often lead the songs and are
an invitation to dance while the melodies, rhythms and vocals create a
sound picture of the grasslands of the Sahel and arid desert.
The rich and heady blend of the particular vocal sound of the Wodaabe
singers, Bammo Agonla and Bagui Bouga, the strong singing voice of the
Touareg Alhousseini Anivolla and the polyphonic chorus of the whole
band both contribute to Etran Finatawa’s innovative, unique and rich
sound.The traditional Wodaabe chants are a remarkable blend of choral
polyphony and high tenor solos accompanied with calabasse (gourd)
drums and a slow motion type of movement verging on dance and
handclapping, while the Tuareg have always used a variety of string
instruments, tende drums and ululations to animate their songs and
dances. After a 1970s rebellion, Tuareg exiles in Libya developed a
guitar style called ichumar and the solo guitar of Alhousseini
Anivolla gives a special Blues groove to their music.
SOUND SAMPLES AND MORE INFORMATION
http://www.crossroadsconcerts.org
TICKET PRICING
Standard price: $15
Special Supporters: $20
Discount price: $10 (for students, seniors, or if you can’t afford to
come otherwise)
Children under 12: $5
Crossroads events are priced on a sliding scale. We are a not-for-
profit organization and want as many people as possible to be able to
come. If you’re unable to come otherwise, please pay the discount
price, and, if you can afford it, please consider paying the supporter
price so we can continue this policy.
UPCOMING CONCERTS
Saturday, November 8, 2008
VENISSA SANTI
Cuban jazz standards and Afro-Cuban folkloric song
SONIC LIBERATION FRONT
Afro-Cuban Yoruba roots meet free jazz and electronica
Saturday, November 22, 2008
METROFOLK BAND
Traditional Music from Hungary and Romania.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
APRIL VERCH BAND
Ottawa Valley fiddle and stepdance
Saturday, January 17, 2009
PETER OSTROUSHKO
Heartland Americana (with a Ukranian twist)
with SVITANYA EASTERN EUROPEAN WOMEN'S VOCAL ENSEMBLE
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT, featuring
PIERRE BENSUSAN (France)
BENJAMIN VERDERY (New York)
CECILIA ZABALA (Argentina)
BRIAN GORE (San Francisco)
Crossroads events are in part funded by grants from the Philadelphia
Cultural Fund, Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund,
and the 5-County Arts Fund.
