Toumast
The Touaregs occupy a huge territory that stretches from central Sahara – southern Libya to southern Algeria – to the North of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. During the past decades, their society underwent transformations that deeply modified their pastoral and trading economy as well as their political life. At the beginning of the 1960's, while the Touaregs expressed in vain their refusal to be attached to the states of Niger or Mali, the decolonization deprived them of true independence and their territory was parted between different states.
The Kill Devil Hills
The Kill Devil Hills are a 6 piece country, swampy blues band from Perth, Western Australia. Their 2004 release Heathen Songs was followed in 2006 by The Drought, an album which has been widely praised by local reviews. The multi-award-winning group spent the best part of 2009 completing their third album,
Ali Farka Toure
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Aziza Brahim
Aziza is a Saharawi from Western Sahara, born in a refugee camp in Algeria. At the age of 11 Aziza received a schoolarship to study in Cube where she spent seven years, before abandoning her studies in order to dedicate herself to music. She won the first prize in a national song competition in a cultural festival of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic - the self-proclaimed Saharawi state, exiled in the refugee camps and recognized by over 80 countries.
Tamikrest
Tamikrest are a group of young Touareg musicians from the far north of Mali.
Les Espoirs de Coronthie
Les Espoirs de Coronthie have their base in Guinea Conakry, West Africa, where they're one of the most popular groups playing traditionally based music right now. Their texts talk about everyday life, in the language Sousou. They have a website at http://www.myspace.com/espoirscoronthie.
Khaira Arby
Khaïra Arby (sometimes spelled Haira) "The Nightingale of the North" is a singer from Mali. She is from the desert- from Agouni, north of Timbuktu, Mali, and cousin to Ali Farka Touré. She sings in Sonrai, Arabic, Tamashek, accompanied by instruments and rhythms just as varied, with electric guitar and trickling beats, calabash, traditional violin and guitar, and drumming that creates that abrupt squared sound of the music from that part of Mali.
Vieux Farka Toure
This is a bogus artist, please see Vieux Farka Touré. Thank you.