Backbone > Ear Whacks
Song of the Sands

Sahara Desert, Northern Mali

The wind is incessant, forming mile-high walls of white sand. When the gust finally dies away it's so quiet you can hear the earth turn. Thorny trees, jagged rock plateaus and volcanic mountains pepper the landscape. The sun is murderous, yet the night air is crisp and clear, the Southern Cross so bright you could fall into a sky of black satin. Wind, sand, sky. Not much else here.

Fadimata Walett Oumar, a Kel Tamashek (or Tuareg) nomad, takes shelter in a refugee camp in Burkina Faso, far from her desert dwelling in Timbuktu. She picks up her tindé-sometimes a mortar for grinding grain, today a small drum with camel skin stretched across the top. She wets the skin and begins to thump out a rhythm, singing "Ofous D'Ifous," an upbeat song for peace in a world of equality and justice. She learned to play the tindé as a little girl, sitting on a servant woman's knee. Because of her love of rhythm, her family nicknamed her Disco.

Disco and her family, like thousands of nomads, fled their home in search of food and safety due to terrible droughts and political strife. When the Kel Tamashek society was divided into the five states of Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mali, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) in 1963, the people rebelled against the deprivation of their traditional economic bases and bullying neighbors to the north and south. Lack of rain in the 1980s brought famine to these goat herders, forcing them to kill off their cattle and sell them to survive. During this time organizations such as Band Aid and Farm Aid raised funds for the people of West Africa, but much of the foreign monies ended up in the pockets of corrupt politicians. Two more rebellions took place in the 1990s, and the Malian army encouraged militias to exterminate all whites, Moors, and Kel Tamasheks. Thousands were killed before a peace agreement was reached, but hundreds of thousands of nomads fled and took shelter in refugee camps under wretched conditions. Some went east to Burkina Faso, some west to Mauritania. Their nomadic way of life had become the road to exile.

Disco and her family found solace in that Burkina Faso camp by chanting songs of peace, love, and exile, songs hailing their future return to their native soil and roots. A Belgian aid worker overheard their songs and suggested they travel to Liege, Belgium to the Voix des Femmes (Festival of Women's Voices) in 1995. They agreed. A few Kel Tamasheks from a camp in eastern Mauritania joined them.

At this festival the group recorded their first CD, Amazagh. Finally settling into a touring ensemble of nine, the five women and four men became Tartit, which means "union". After landing European management, Tartit returned to Belgium many times, eventually finding themselves at the annual WOMEX world music conference in Europe. There they were discovered by tour director Alison Loerke, who was so captivated she insisted on bringing Tartit to North America. After playing a Canadian festival tour and a few US states, they are now planning their first official US tour.

Tartit's latest CD Ichichila was recorded on Network (Germany) and is distributed in the US by Harmonia Mundi. What is most prominent about these 13 tracks-some of which are century-old pieces, others more recent improv compositions-is the call-and-response vocal work and hand percussion. Instrumentation is minimal. Listening to Tartit is an otherworldly, hypnotic experience. As one member delivers a mysterious solo chant, and the others ping-pong it back, the echolalia becomes an aural narcotic, transporting the listener to that wind, sand, and sky. Evocative, stripped-bare chants and earthy rhythms provide a window into the hauntingly sparse landscape of their homeland. Arcane lyrics tell of struggle, daily life, camels, and natural surroundings.

The chant of "Iya Heniya," a story of an adulterous relationship, has the makings of a seductive ritual with its voice, hand-clapping, and simple tindé beat. Melodic, guitar-based "Ichichila" is an appeal to the people to fight against the under-development that causes famine, war, and drought. The spellbinding traditional chant and heavy heartbeat of "Äi Hele Dumahele" is another call for reconciliation and peace.

Some call this genre desert blues. For the Kel Tamashek, music, song, and poetry play a fundamental role in everyday life. It's part of all celebrations-Ramadan, marriages, births, and even divorces. Those who perform are not generally in fixed ensembles; everyone at an event joins in the chant. But for Tartit, music is a public invitation to observe an endangered culture that is thousands of years old.

The members of Tartit sheaths themselve in traditionally embroidered, colorful robes and beautiful beaded headdresses. Amanou Issa is the eldest and a key member. He's their griot, an individual from the caste of metal smiths who guards the musical and historical tradition that is handed down from father to son, from generation to generation. This history is transmitted by the griots through stories; it is unusual for a griot to sing. The griot always plays the tehardent, a fretless, three-stringed lute with a canoe-shaped wooden resonance chamber covered in goat skin. Ag Mohamed Idwal also plays the tehardent.

Arahmat Walit Attaher plays the imzad, a one-stringed fiddle that is always played by women; it's made from half a gourd or a wooden bowl covered in goat skin to which is attached a neck supporting one string of horsehair. Both the tehardent and imzad are easily disassembled for use in mundane activities. These unique instruments are handmade, not refined like those of the West, and there are limited numbers of individuals who can make and play them. Attaher also plays the tindé drum with Disco, Mama Walet Amoumine, and Fadimata W. Mohamendun. Mohamed Issa Ag Oumar adds a modern guitar to the ensemble, and Fatoumata Haidara and Aboubacrine Ag Mohamed join in on vocals.

Kel Tamashek women are strong and independent. A few of them speak French. They are feminists who are allowed their own voices, choice of mates, and can initiate divorces, unlike women in most African societies. When a woman is divorced, there is a huge celebration in her honor. Surprisingly, it is the Kel Tamashek men who veil their faces.

Tartit is a politically active group. The women sell handcrafted items to raise money to assist in economic development opportunities for women and to pay for their children's education; they have even started a UN-recognized, nonprofit organization for that purpose. Tartit is also an advisory group to the Timbuktu Heritage Institute, a network intent on preserving endangered manuscripts, promoting a message of tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution, and reviving their legacy. The Kel Tamashek don't have many material goods by Western standards, yet they are willing to share what they have. They are a beautiful people, warm and generous. Most of Tartit's members live as nomads again in Timbuktu; now that the rains have returned, they herd their goats and reside in tents of patchwork camel skins and woven grasses.

Though Tartit's mission is to preserve their cultural identity and bring their music to the world, they, like other world music groups, are concerned about immigration and its unforeseen landmines. With new hyped-up security, it has become increasingly difficult for touring groups on "blacklisted" countries to enter the US. Interference can come from any number of places the Immigration and Naturalization Service, embassies, at borders, or at customs. Some musicians cancel tours out of frustration. Others don't attempt to come to the US at all. Filing for applications now includes a $1,000 processing fee, which impoverished individuals such as Tartit simply cannot afford. Such financial stress can eliminate international tours altogether. Campaigns such as Don't Stop The Music, started by a lobbying group at The Association of Performing Arts Presenters in Washington, DC, encourage those who want to hear this music to call their representatives to push for improved legislation for visa processing. More information on this endeavor can be found at www.folk.org.

If all goes well Tartit will embark on their US tour this month, stopping at Stone Ridge Center for the Arts on April 5. They will also appear at venues in NYC, Boston, Washington, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, and a few locations in California before returning to the desert sands. Tartit is a musical treat not to be missed. The Stone Ridge show begins at 8:30PM and admission is $15.00. For more information call the Center at 687-8890. n