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Al Bilali Soudan Biography
"From Timbuktu, as we spell it, four or five male blood relatives shout and
expostulate their songs in Tamashek, Songhai, and it says here French and English
as they thrash and manipulate their ngoni-like tehardents. Whether conjoining
barely coexisting peoples or boosting kind women who are better than they are,
both of which they make sound worthy and neither of which they make sound easy,
they will get your attention, guaranteed. If you like desert music enough to suspect
you've heard it before, you haven't--Tinariwen are showbiz by comparison,
Tamikrest urbane, Tartit cute. And should you instead suspect that this noisy,
indelicate stuff is the roughest African music ever recorded, that's because you
haven't heard their 2012 debut. A-" - Robert Christgau 9/30/21
AL BILALI SOUDAN are members of an extended family of craftsmen (forgeron) who for generations have been sought after musicians and griots. Led by Abellau Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of the quintessentially Tamasheq music style called tashigalt, which is shaped by a continuous exchange between the three-stringed tehardent accompanied by percussive rhythm of the calabash.
Al Bilali Soudan have a multigenerational history as musicians. Among their influences are Ahmoudou Ag Intalokete, Abellow Yattara’s father and Agou Keina his uncle and a key member of the group Le Mali des Sables. That group is one the first recorded examples of this on an album released in1971 by the German label Bärenreiter-Musicaphon.
Other influences are Amano Ag Issa, the tehardent musician of the group Tartit, Ali FarkaToure, KhairaArby, FissaMaiga, BassekouKouyate, the band Super Onze de Gao and Afel Bocoum.
This music has been performed from at least the 16th century by Touareg griots to celebrate the end of harvest and the changing of the seasons, to encourage warriors and to welcome them back from battles, to praise noble families and to heal the sick. Over centuries this music has evolved through fusion with other ethnic groups.
Born in 1953 in Timbuktu, Abellau Yattara is the elder and leader of the group. A master of this style he first learned to play the instrument at age 7 from his father. In 2010 he gave a stringed instrument workshop at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His performances are intense. Accompanied by his uncle Aboubacrine Yattara, who was born in1963 in Bamako and who similarly learned the instrument from his father. These two form the core of the group and have been performing together for decades. They are joined by their sons Mohamed Abellaw and Ibrahim Ag Aboubacrine. They bring youth and energy of a new generation to the music.
The group’s pride in their cultural heritage is manifest in the verve and complexity that they achieve. Lightning fast, sometimes looping, this is intense mastery of a traditional repertoire improvised and adapted into the21st century.
Al Bilali Soudan’s music continues to evolve while preserving their unique cultural heritage. This performance tour will be the group’s debut in North America. Abellau Yattara is the only group member to have performed outside of West Africa. In 2010 he accompanied Khaira Arby on her international tour appearing at Festivals across North America.
The group’s name derives from Bilal ibn Rabah born in Mecca in 580. A contemporary of the Prophet Muhammed, Bilal was a former slave known for his voice with which he called people to prayer. Muhammad chose Bilal as the first Mu'azzin. The story of Bilal is the most frequently cited demonstration of Islam's view of measuring people not by their nationality nor social status nor race, but by their Piety. One of Bilal’s descendants is said to have migrated to West Africa. Soudan derives from Soudan Français, the West African colony. Thus the group’s name pays tribute to their Muslim background, their slave ancestry, and West Africa’s colonial history. The members of Al Bilali Soudan continue to live in Mali and work as craftsmen and musicians.
“A primordial rock album thousands of years before the concept of rock was ever hatched.” Dennis Rozanski, BLUESRAG mojoworking.com Fall 2020
Read Moreexpostulate their songs in Tamashek, Songhai, and it says here French and English
as they thrash and manipulate their ngoni-like tehardents. Whether conjoining
barely coexisting peoples or boosting kind women who are better than they are,
both of which they make sound worthy and neither of which they make sound easy,
they will get your attention, guaranteed. If you like desert music enough to suspect
you've heard it before, you haven't--Tinariwen are showbiz by comparison,
Tamikrest urbane, Tartit cute. And should you instead suspect that this noisy,
indelicate stuff is the roughest African music ever recorded, that's because you
haven't heard their 2012 debut. A-" - Robert Christgau 9/30/21
AL BILALI SOUDAN are members of an extended family of craftsmen (forgeron) who for generations have been sought after musicians and griots. Led by Abellau Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of the quintessentially Tamasheq music style called tashigalt, which is shaped by a continuous exchange between the three-stringed tehardent accompanied by percussive rhythm of the calabash.
Al Bilali Soudan have a multigenerational history as musicians. Among their influences are Ahmoudou Ag Intalokete, Abellow Yattara’s father and Agou Keina his uncle and a key member of the group Le Mali des Sables. That group is one the first recorded examples of this on an album released in1971 by the German label Bärenreiter-Musicaphon.
Other influences are Amano Ag Issa, the tehardent musician of the group Tartit, Ali FarkaToure, KhairaArby, FissaMaiga, BassekouKouyate, the band Super Onze de Gao and Afel Bocoum.
This music has been performed from at least the 16th century by Touareg griots to celebrate the end of harvest and the changing of the seasons, to encourage warriors and to welcome them back from battles, to praise noble families and to heal the sick. Over centuries this music has evolved through fusion with other ethnic groups.
Born in 1953 in Timbuktu, Abellau Yattara is the elder and leader of the group. A master of this style he first learned to play the instrument at age 7 from his father. In 2010 he gave a stringed instrument workshop at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His performances are intense. Accompanied by his uncle Aboubacrine Yattara, who was born in1963 in Bamako and who similarly learned the instrument from his father. These two form the core of the group and have been performing together for decades. They are joined by their sons Mohamed Abellaw and Ibrahim Ag Aboubacrine. They bring youth and energy of a new generation to the music.
The group’s pride in their cultural heritage is manifest in the verve and complexity that they achieve. Lightning fast, sometimes looping, this is intense mastery of a traditional repertoire improvised and adapted into the21st century.
Al Bilali Soudan’s music continues to evolve while preserving their unique cultural heritage. This performance tour will be the group’s debut in North America. Abellau Yattara is the only group member to have performed outside of West Africa. In 2010 he accompanied Khaira Arby on her international tour appearing at Festivals across North America.
The group’s name derives from Bilal ibn Rabah born in Mecca in 580. A contemporary of the Prophet Muhammed, Bilal was a former slave known for his voice with which he called people to prayer. Muhammad chose Bilal as the first Mu'azzin. The story of Bilal is the most frequently cited demonstration of Islam's view of measuring people not by their nationality nor social status nor race, but by their Piety. One of Bilal’s descendants is said to have migrated to West Africa. Soudan derives from Soudan Français, the West African colony. Thus the group’s name pays tribute to their Muslim background, their slave ancestry, and West Africa’s colonial history. The members of Al Bilali Soudan continue to live in Mali and work as craftsmen and musicians.
“A primordial rock album thousands of years before the concept of rock was ever hatched.” Dennis Rozanski, BLUESRAG mojoworking.com Fall 2020
Timbuktu
Alternative
Takamba
African
Desert Blues
Musique Touareg Des Kel Tamachek
Tashigalt
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