Al Bilali Soudan: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.

The family members of Al Bilali Soudan, from Timbuktu, Mali, are sought-after musicians and griots. Led by Abellow Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of quintessentially Tamasheq (or Tuareg) music, shaped by a continuous exchange between the tehardent (lute), vocals and hand percussion. The words sung are similarly percussive, like an instrument themselves. This genre of music has been performed for half a millennium by Tuareg griots to celebrate the end of harvest and the changing seasons, heroic warriors and noble families. --The globalFEST staff

SET LIST

• "Apolo"
• "Djaba"

MUSICIANS

• Abellaw Yattara: lead tehardent, vocals
• Aboubacrine Yattara: bass tehardent
• Mohamed Abellaw: tehardent, vocals
• Ibrahim "Tchiale" Ag Aboubacrine: calabash
• Hamadoun Guindo: calabash

CREDITS

• Production: Christopher Nolan — Clermont Music
• Audio: Yaya Diarra — Tadiazt
• Audio Mastering: Dave Cook — Area 52 Studios
• Direction: Mahadi "Kiss" Diouara — Millenium Communications
• Special thanks: Abdallah Ag Amano — Tadiazt

Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST

Tiny Desk Team

Producer: Bob Boilen

Video Producer: Maia Stern

Audio Mixing: Josh Rogosin

Tiny Production Team: Bobby Carter, Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis

Executive Producer: Keith Jenkins

Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

globalFEST Artistic Team

Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin

2022 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, Gabrielle Davenport

globalFEST Production Team

Event Producer: Ian Thake

Producer: THE OFFICE performing arts + film*

Video Producer: Karim Tabbaa

Special Thanks

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, JanArtsNYC, Valerie French (social media), Yuri Kwon of Pitch Perfect PR (publicity), Tamizdat (legal services) and Duane Morris (legal services)

*THE OFFICE performing arts + film consists of Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Olli Chanoff, Erica Zielinski, Nadine Goellner, Lynn Koek, Noah Bashevkin, Catherine DeGennaro, Gabrielle Davenport, Chloe Golding, Kyla Gardner, Tess Peppis, Zion Jackson, Scout Eisenberg and Jose Alvarado

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