Toumast, an authentic Touareg band

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 authoritative and repressive policy of the governments of Niger and Mali radicalized furthermore their positions.
In the 1970’s and 80’s the region was struck by several periods of drought, forcing the Touareg population to exile to southern Algeria and southern Libya. It then became customary to call the young Touaregs looking for work, ishumar, a term borrowed from the French « chômeur », meaning unemployed.
Going from city to city the Ishumar lived an itinerant life along with the tormented story of the Touareg Liberation Front that was growing clandestinely. Their particular culture is forged outside of the camps and the cities, far from their families. The Touareg Liberation Front launched an offensive in 1990 against the northern regions of Mali and Niger. The conflict officially ended in 1992 in Mali and 1995 in Niger when the regimes became more democratic. The first ishumar band, founded in Libya and Algeria around Intiyeden and Ibrahim Abaraybone, is called Tinariwen. They draw their inspiration from traditional melody lines. Their militant lyrics describe their adventurous way of living and formulate vibrant calls to mobilize the younger generation that remains in the country.
These itinerant musicians perform during night festivities in shantytowns. Their songs are then recorded on tapes, duplicated, exchanged or offered, spreading the word of the Ishumar in all of the touareg region, in camps as in cities. Toumast was founded in the 90’s around Moussa Ag Keyna. In 1993, after years of combat and resistance, Moussa is severely wounded and evacuated to France, later joined by Aminatou Goumar. The first album is a testimony about the years of combat and disillusion experienced by the Touaregs. The songs contain topics precious to the Ishumar: the nostalgia of the nomadic life, love, the bitter taste of exile and the criticism of politics.
In this second album, Moussa Ag Keyna and Aminatou Goumar, are reaffirming their touareg’s identity, reaching more people in a larger scale. Through authentic traditional singing, with her tinde (percussion instrument), Aminatou recreates the ambiance of a nomadic encampment. In the same sense, Moussa uses the international support of an electric guitar. What Moussa would like to convey through his music is for you to discover his people, their habits, culture, the desert, their hopes and their despairs. Moussa sings for peace, their fight for freedom and diplomacy. The major goal is to win the right to exist in harmony on their own land. Listening to this music, you are sharing the moving experience of a touareg who invites you to walk our world together.

Aklid, an original Amazigh artist

For as long as he can remember, Akli D. was surrounded by music in the little village in Kabylia, Algeria, where he was born. His mother, a traditional folk singer, used to sing him to sleep, and the rest of his family is very musical. He played in his first concert at the age of 13, in the school show of his native village in Kabylia. From then on, he decided never to let go of his guitar, which has become his passport, allowing him to travel the world meeting people, like a modern troubadour.
He listened to popular Kabyl singers, like Idir, Cheikh El Hasnaoui et Slimane Azem, but lent an attentive ear to Neil Young’s and Bob Dylan’s protest songs, to Jacques Higelin’s wacky rock, to the Rasta movement, to the Mississipi Blues and to the echoes of the m’balax.
He arrived in France in the early 80′s, fleeing a bitter Algeria, which was repressing Kabylia’s demands for recognition.The « Berber Spring », marked by the army’s repression, resulted in tens of deaths and hundreds of political prisoners.
Akli was an involved witness in these events and had to go into exile. He arrived in Paris on a fine summer day, with little money in his pockets and the addresses of a few other Algerians.
He had few illusions and was aware of the difficulties that lay before him, and he decided that spending time with interesting people would broaden his horizons. Walking around Beaubourg in Paris one day, he borrowed a street musician’s banjo and tried his hand at playing that for a while. That started a long period of playing on public squares and in the Parisian metro. Little by little, he tried out many different musical genres: blues, rock, reggae, folk… all of which later influenced his compositions.
Every penny saved went towards building his dream: cinema ! His passion for films led him to take an Actor’s Studio course at the Café de la Danse in Paris, when « mektoub » (destiny) put an American patron into his path, and he flew off to America. He landed in San Francisco, the city of creative audacity, and surprised audiences at the Cafe Internationale and other clubs with melodies previously unknown in the US. He then went on to Ireland, which turned out to be just as fascinating as his American experience but more familiar musically.
Back in Paris and with a head full of artistic treasures, he accompanied two charming female singers in a chaâbi-saharian blues combo called « El Djazira », then went on to form his first group, called « Les Rebeuhs des Bois ». This enabled him to play in several underground places in Paris and elsewhere. He circulated among cafes and clubs of various styles, like « La guinguette Pirate », the café « La Liberté » and the « Le Lou Pascalou », in cosmopolitan neighbourhoods, where the beer flows freely.
A first album materialised from these different experiences: « Anef-as Trankil », produced live. The low-fi aspect is compensated by very personal compositions reflecting his background: Folk-Country music from Kabylia and Chaâbi (a typical style from the Algerian suburbs), but open to life and to others, like his brothers on the black continent, the reggae planet and the Chicago delta. The record has been critically acclaimed for its originality and is enjoyed by audiences in both France and the Kabyl community. It is Important to note that this was a major step for the Kabyls, who were getting bored by the usual uniform music (often repetitive pieces with derbouka and mandol).
“The tradition of the Kabyl poet”
Akli D has chosen to set up his haven in Paris, in a typical Menilmontant café, one of the last “apache” strongholds of the capital. This café is one of the rare places in which spontaneous encounters happen, where people pick up guitars, bendirs and derboukas and jam all night long. Akli D finds the atmosphere typical of the gnawas of Central Africa, a Berber people like the Kabyls.
When in Paris, Manu Chao also hangs out in these cafés. He soon picked out this artist who read his Kabyl poetry over folk, gypsy-jazz and Chaâbi music. Their meeting turned into an artistic collaboration when Manu came to the recording of the new album. He was immediately entranced and offered to produce Akli D’s album. Manu Chao discovered Akli D and saw his potential. This close friendship, founded on music, helped them produce a more elaborate, studied album than the first one, but still keeping the natural spontaneity and sincerity of the artist.
“Akli D., a politically engaged artist?”
He is involved in actions like aid to Chechen orphans, the fight for registration of illegal immigrants, the battle of Algerian women against the family code, and generally every cause that touches this troubadour, concerned about the difficulties of his times (from the North African march in which he participated in 1985 when he was a young immigrant, to the student demonstrations and Malik Oussekin’s “Death Theatre”)… his commitment inspired him to write songs like « Tchetchenia », « Malik », «Salam », « Ar Paris ». His new album is rich in racial mixtures. The lyrics speak of peace, fraternity and love. His first album had a cultural identity; this one has a more human identity, backed by an outsized, engrossing musical universe.
Source: because.tv0

Thaziri, a special Amazigh band

November, the 19th 2005 was a special day in the history of Wahid Thaziri. The band presented her first album called “Thajit” (Dream). This cd presentation was the closing off of a successful year 2005. The band played the finale of The “Amsterdamse Popprijs” and won the “Rasa Mondiaal Tour” and played on more than 40 famous stages in Holland like Paradiso and Melkweg and also on the largest festivals like Noorderslag, Bevrijdingsfestival, Oerol, Sail and more.
This makes Wahid Thaziri one of the greatest Amazigh music groups in the Netherlands. The music of Thaziri is a mix of different known music styles and the traditional Amazigh music (northern Africa). This unique expression is made possible by the usage of the modern instruments like guitar, bass, drums and the traditional Amazigh instruments like adjun (percussion), therefore Thaziri’s music is accessible for audiences with different backgrounds.
Their own songs
The music and (most of) the lyrics of the songs are composed and written by the band members themselfs. Some songs, like “Put me in your heart” (M. Abttoy) and “We are still alive” (Twattoun) are written by other great artists. The songs on the album are about the issues which can take place in every society in the world. From a love song to songs about women s rights in some parts of the world.
Cultural purpose
Besides playing great music and performing, the band tries to promote the Amazigh art and music in the Netherlands and Europe.
Contact
For more information check the official website of the band: www.thaziri.nl
Management: AM Artist & Event management, M. Achahbar 0031 0 627556017.
Listen to Thaziri music here
Source: Thaziri.nl, Official website of Thaziri band

Idir, the Pioneer of Amazigh Music

Idir was born in 1949 at Ait Lahcene a Berber village in Haute-Kabylia. IDIR’s real name is Hamid Cheriet. This farmer’s son started studying Geology and was destined for a career in the petroleum industry before his rise to stardom. Idir has been the ambassador of the Kabyle culture, especially the Kabyle music, with only his vocals and acoustic guitar. Idir has always used his status to claim his Berber (Amazigh) identity. His first album “A Vava inouva” came out in 1976, and the song “A Vava inouva” was translated into seven languages. After notable success, Idir wrote and recorded his second album “Ay Arrac Negh” (to our children) in 1979.
Idir restarted his career again with the release of a compilation in 1991 of seventeen songs from his first two albums “A Vava inouva” and “Ay Arrac Negh”.
In 1993, a new album “les Chasseurs de lumières” (the hunters of lights) appeared on the Blue Silver label. “Les Chasseurs de lumières” is about (his) predilection, love, freedom and exile (which he had known since he moved to the Paris region in 1975). The acoustic guitar gives to the songs of this album a touch of modernism. We can also hear the voice of the Breton singer Alan Stivell in the duo “Isaltiyen”. Idir performed his songs for the public at the Olympia in Paris on June 26th, 27th and 28th, 1993.
Questions of Identity
A man of conviction, Idir often participated in concerts supporting different causes. On June 22nd 1995 more than 6.000 people came to applaud the singer and his friend Khaled, initiators of the association “l’Algèrie la vie” which invited them to a concert for peace freedom and tolerance. It was a triumph for the two artists who on this occasion joined the Kabyle and Arabic-speaking communities together. Idir also took part in the concert in memory of Matoub Lounes, the Kabyle singer who was assassinated in 1998.
Idir’s record making comeback was made with “Identities” in 1999, a tribute album which joined numerous artists together from Manu Chao to Dan Ar Braz without forgetting Maxime Le Forestier or Scotswoman Karen Matheson for a “A vava inouva 2″, but also Gnawa Diffusion, Zebda, Gilles Servat, Geoffrey Oryema and l’ONB. Idir gathered here those who advocate cultural openings as well as recognition of each person’s own roots.
When Idir performed two concerts at the legendary Olympia music hall in Paris in December ’99 he was joined by an equally impressive amount of guest stars. In fact, the celebrity line-up included everyone from Frédéric Galliano to guitarist Thierry Robin and the ONB.
Idir took to the stage to defend his national identity once again at the ème Printemps berbère”, a celebration of Berber culture organised at Le Zènith in Paris in the spring of 2001. The Algerian star returned to the same venue on July 8th, organising a special fund-raising concert to support the population in Kabylia when anti-government riots rocked the cradle of Berber culture in the summer of 2001. Idir was joined on stage by an impressive list of guest stars and thousands of French fans turned out to Le Zènith to show their support.
In May 2002, his record company released a compilation featuring many of the artist’s songs. Entitled “Deux rives, un rève” it also provided the fans with the opportunity to listen to two previously unreleased tracks. One of them written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, evoked the terrible downpour that overwhelmed Algiers with water in November 2001.
On September 20th, Idir began a new tour by bringing the house down at the Zenith in Paris. The tour was to last until December.
Wikipedia & rfimusique

Yelas, a Shining Amazigh Star

Born in the 20th century in Tarihant, “a little village perched in the mountains not far from the sea�, he was from a modest background where you had to work to achieve anything, to pull through. So the little Kabyl got down to work and did very well at school. But soon, he would stray from the path that seemed mapped out for him, enrolling in the school of life where his guitar would be his most faithful mentor and his native Berber language his chosen discipline. In 1984, he formed a first group at secondary school, performing a patchwork of Bob Dylan, Jacques Brel, Paul Simon and Idir covers.This was the start of a fabulous adventure that was to last more than fifteen years before it culminated in the production of his first record. During that time, young Said chose a name that spoke volumes about his plans: Yelas, meaning “ever present�.
During that time, he also joined the Berber Spring movement and became increasingly committed to the struggle for recognition of his people s rights and identity. During that period, he left for France where he now lives.
Like bluesmen and folk singers, Yelas writes alone on the guitar, “as the mood takes meâ€?, he says. When the time is right and not to order. “I feel naked without my guitar. I ve travelled all over Europe, North and South, and I ve even been to the United States and Canada with it.â€? Despite a year spent as a pupil at a conservatory of music in Algeria (classical guitar section) and his higher business studies, the young man preferred to live from day to day, his life guided by meetings and experiences. Yelas has played in subways and streets, in public places and cafés for a pittance and for the sheer pleasure of it too… the delight of sharing his passion with an audience. Today as yesterday, his place is on the stage, the scene of every kind of interplay and potentiality. This explains his apprehension when he goes through the looking glass into the impersonal recording booth. “Studio work isn t easy. Nothing like stage performance. But it s there that you realise you re becoming more professional.â€?
“My music is like my musicians, met by word of mouth in the same way that my music tells the story of my life.â€? A nomad at heart, the Kabyl does not refuse the “world musicâ€? label. Quite the opposite. He simply has his own vision, which he defines in this way: “Blending with all the colors of the world without losing your soul, without forgetting where you re fromâ€?. That is why his seven musician partners – a magnificent seven – must be “able to feel at home with a wide range of repertoiresâ€?: cosmopolitan like him, a polyglot who speaks four languages. He admits to being as strongly influenced by Greek or Hispanic genres as by the great tradition of American songwriters. It was armed with these credentials that he set out to explore his natural world, the music of Kabylia, stirring it up in every sense of the term “to protect our Berber cultural identity, to fight for freedom and to continue the struggle. It s a permanent commitment.â€? There is no point in asking him to play for the government: he is a spokesman for those people who have no say, an Algeria reduced to silence.
This is what Yelas tells in his words and music. He sings in his own language, the speech of his native land, “more suited to melody than others because of the richness of its soundsâ€?. He is proud in his words and warmly eloquent. Above all, he has a unique, singularly-multiple style, bringing together all the lessons he has learnt during his travels. Flamenco dances unselfconsciously there, Celtic music slips quietly in and the Mediterranean movement stretches to the shores of a Latin-style America… It is difficult to qualify and categorise Yelas music. There is no doubt that it is a fine reflection of his open spirit, infatuated with freedom. But above and beyond the notes, rapid tempos and calmer ballads, there are the words, words whose true meaning is enhanced by the music.
YelasBeginning with the title, which symbolises his approach. “Ifili means net. But the real meaning is trap, in other words, the current situation in Algeria. We have to go into exile to find freedom!�, forcefully explains this native son, still attached to his roots although his winged sandals have carried him to the four corners of the world. The same applies to Ggan-Kem, “the exodus of Kabyles fleeing social and political oppression�. And it is no accident that the record begins with a tribute to the victims of terrorism, “starting with Matoub Lounes and all those who fell in the Berber Spring�. Tafsuyt continues in the same vein, “to keep alive the memory of the victims of the first Berber Spring at the start of 1980, repressed with terrible violence�. Furulu is something of a symbol, but also a tribute, borrowing its title from a character in a novel. “It is in praise of the old educational system, which was established just after independence and took a beating twenty years later. It is an indirect tribute to the French-speaking world and all those who wanted to build an educated Algeria�. Later on, Debout! (Stand up!) launches “an appeal to Algeria, which must wake up to our differences in identity�, sadly neglected treasures. This awakening is predicted in Tannumi, “the hope that goes hand in hand with any struggle. Despite the hardship, it brings joy too, because freedom lies at the end!�.
Not to forget to have fun… Not to forget Tizgrit, “the village by the coast where I went to schoolâ€?. The place where it all began, as a few verses inscribed on music paper remind us, a touch nostalgically. Days of adolescence, certainly still carefree days in a way. That is perhaps why Yelas ends his first album with two songs that are less loaded with meaning, more suited to dancing and celebration: La fille au violon (The girl with the violin), “simply a love songâ€?, and Huzz-Imanim, “a call to get up and move, to have a good timeâ€?. Two themes showing that Yelas is much more than just a singer with a message, much more than just a bard of rai, a genre that all too often loses its way.
Jacques Denis
Source:north-of-africa.com

Takfarinas, my country is the earth

His name may not be familiar to Americans, but for millions of people in North Africa and Europe, his name is synonymous with “Yal music.” At a time when all the youth of Algeria were caught up in raï music, Takfarinas was forging his own sound, a sort of musical esperantos deriving from the Kabyle songs of the last century. He named it “Yal music” after the rhythmic vocalized syllable “yal…laaa yal…lalala,” which is inseparable from Kabyle song, from children’s music to the great songs of the past. Zaama-Zaama, Zaama-Zaama, the chorus of his latest smash hit single, is on everyone’s lips nowadays in France. Among the North African community in Europe, he is the prince of Kabyle, who uses his double-necked mandole and a powerful voice to deliver his message of love and universal understanding.
Tinder Records is now introducing “YAL”–the album, the music and the artist–to North America. Takfarinas is the new pop superstar of North Africa, who has earned the respect of European music critics. His album is a huge success among Algerian and other North African communities since its release in France. “Yal music” has reached such popularity that it has become a worthy rival to raï music.
Takfarinas’s music is a fusion of traditional Amazigh melodies, American soul music, a pinch of flamenco, a funk and European rock flavor spiced with other musical elements of his native Algeria. He borrows Texan harmonicas, gypsy rhythms, Turkish violins, and gospel choirs from the tangled web of sound which makes up our world.
Takfarinas was born to a family of musicians in Tixerane, a town perched in the heights of Algiers. Tixerane has always been home to the Kabyle-speaking Amazigh (Kabyle is one of the dialects of Tamazight, the original North African language). His great grandfather was a traditional singer, well-known in Kabylia in the last century. In 1986, Takfarinas had a hit called Way Thelha (she’s so beautiful), which was successful on cassette throughout North Africa. During that time, he played to sold-out stadiums in Algeria, accompanied on a double-necked acoustic mandole he called takfa. It is a lute-like instrument originally with a single fingerboard indigenous to Algeria. He modified the instrument, added a second neck and two colors; each neck offering two different distinct sounds, one feminine, the other masculine. He has since replaced the takfa with an electric half-drum mandole, again with two fingerboards, a unique model created in Marseille, France, on which he can achieve the grand concert sound.
At the age of six, Takfarinas began learning and performing the popular music of North Africa on his own makeshift guitar, which he built using a motor oil can, a wooden stick for the neck, and his father’s bicycle brake cables for the strings. On his sixteenth birthday, his father bought him a brand new guitar. Unlike many other parents, his father was very supportive of his young son’s artistic passion, and encouraged him to practice more often. Accompanying himself on this guitar, the young boy won first prize in a singing contest on Algerian radio. He interpreted popular songs of the time, notably those of the artists that have inspired him: El Hasnaoui, Slimane Azeem, Ahmed Saber, and Mohamed El Anka, among others: “We did not have records or cassette tapes; all the music we heard was from the radio. We had a Kabyle radio station, Arabic radio, and a French radio. The latter played English and Spanish songs as well.” He got hooked on all three radio stations and listened to Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, and Stevie Wonder, among others. In his neighborhood, they often had a contest to see who would be the first to learn the new songs on the radio.
Around 1976, with the savings earned from doing odd jobs, he made his first recording with “Mahboubahti et l’Oasis” in Algiers. Three years later he recorded the same tracks again in Paris for his first album, Yebarenane. It was at that time he met a fellow countryman, Boujemaa Semaouni. Together they founded the group “Agraw.” The collaboration yielded two albums. He then moved on to a solo career that allowed him to create the “new Kabyle song” style. The Sidi-Bel Abbes ballet joined him on his concert tours. His audience grew tremendously and he found himself touring with 5 coach buses and 86 cast members, including dancers. It was a show that completely revolutionalized the structures of the local scene, filling up stadiums, American style.
In 1979, when the political situation in Algeria radically changed the status of live performances, Takfarinas, like so many Algerian artists, had no choice but to leave his country. He emigrated to France where he reaped the benefits of a far richer professional environment. In July 1987, he played at Paris’s prestigious Olympia music hall. It was one of the memorable moments in his young career: “For me, it was like a coronation. It was as if music has given me a ‘passport’ that accepted me in the music community. I was elated.” Takfarinas has since played Olympia several times and has performed in major music festivals all over Europe. As a musician, he says he feels at home everywhere because music is a universal language, and when an artist speaks it well, he is welcomed in many places. He dedicated two of his albums, Romane (1994) and Salamet (1996) to murdered or missing artists: “When you kill an artist, you kill the sentiment of humanity; when you murder an artist, you kill the voice of the people. The artist is the voice of a nation; he sings of their sentiments, their happiness, their sorrows, their hopes, and their dreams.”
Takfarinas has an undeniable love for the common people. Once in Algeria, he played in a sold-out theater for an audience of five thousand people. While waiting in line to purchase a ticket to the show, a woman gave birth to a child, a boy she named Takfarinas. His songs have metaphorical qualities like the Tamazight language–a repertoire rich in humor and including wisdom. His themes include village traditions, the economic crisis, the many trials and tribulations of destiny, love, etc. He dreams of a world without *****ries, a visa-less world with justice and no capital punishment: “Only God is able to take away life.” Another one of his dreams is to see the cultural diversity of the world come together in harmony. “Like a bouquet of flowers with many colors, it is beautiful to see and smell.”
Source: tinderrecords

Meksa, a legend

Loundja and Zelgoum are orphans like the curent people that don’t hear about him. Early, in 1974, with Idir, he was a famous singer. He composed music and melodies in folk song, modern folklore and universal style. He introduced the guitar, the bass, the battery and the piano. His songs were appreciated in several countries. So, he introduced The Kabylia to the world with its traditions and tales. He worked also on the favour of Berber case. Meksa, you were an ace that died early on this sad October 31st, 1988. You were only 34 years old. But, you are still alive through yopur repertory.
Meksa, 18 years already since Abdelkader Meksa died! With his death, a legend passed away. “Loundja” and “Zelgoum” have become orphans just like the present kabyle people that seems to have forsaken him. His notoriety goes back to the 1974 year when he was as famous as the kabyle singerIdir. Meksa s folk songs had both modern and universal touch which he accompanied harmoniously with numerous instruments such as the guitar, bass, drums and piano. His songs were appreciated wherever a kabyle audience could be found. This could be at home in Kabylia, or many other countries in Europe. Through his songs, he introduced the Kabyle traditions and folk tales to the world. He was also known for his militantisme for the Berber cause that suffered under the discriminatory laws of the Algerian state.
Meksa, one of the best assets of the the kabyle song, died too early on a sad 31st of October, 1988. Meksa was only 34 years old. Meksa, you remain immortel because your legacy, your kabyle songs, are still alive.