Mari Boine From Norway, National Concert Hall, 11 May

She first came to prominence with her 1990 album Gula Gula. Her latest, Idjagiedas released in 2006, was also revelatory: the most intimate works of oeuvre merge the Arctic with Africa, rapture with restraint while inviting the natural powers to dance, addressing the demons hidden in our depths.

“When I first heard them, I felt this was the music I had been looking for all my life”, said Robert Plant after first hearing Tinariwen at the Mali Desert Festival. The band was formed in 1985 on a Libyan military base and its members were involved in the Mali Mountains where the tribal and civil war raged from 1990 to 1996. Traditional melodies, revolutionary texts, Mali blues and psychedelic guitar playing made this one of the great sensations of world music at the turn of the century, thanks to the French Lo’Jo group. 

They discovered them and helped them bring this exceptional sounding desert blues to Europe. The song writing singer-guitarist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib leads the band and in the past three years they have conquered the world music charts. But in concert, they are even more astonishing."

Mari Boine (Norway)
Tinariwen (Mali)
Mari Boine – vocals, Svein Schultz – bass guitar, Gunnar Augland – drums, Ole Jørn Myklebust – trumpet, Juan Carlos Zamata Quispe – violin, recorder, charango, Georg Buljo – guitar
Tinariwen: Ibrahim Ag Alhibib – vocals, guitar, Abdallah Ag Lamida – vocals, guitar, Said Ag Ayad – vocals, percussion instruments, Elaga Ag Hamid – vocals, guitar, Eyadou Ag Leche – vocals, bass guitar, Alhassane Ag Touhami – vocals, guitar, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni – vocals, guitar

Source: Palace of Arts