Tiny Desk meets globalFEST: Taraf de Caliu, Noura Mint Seymali and more

For the third year, Tiny Desk concerts team up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival — Tiny Desk meets globalFEST.

Hosted by Angélique Kidjo, the series echoes globalFEST's live flagship event in spirit but is centered in the framework of the Tiny Desk concert series. This collaboration presents exclusive video performances from nine artists filmed in their respective homelands, on the road and in exile all over the world. There will be three nights of concerts, each featuring three bands, on consecutive nights beginning Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. ET. The globalFEST team wrote the following biographical information about each performer.

Taraf de Caliu, Romania

After more than three decades of relentlessly touring all over the world, the founding members of Taraf de Haïdouks reunited for a new project: Taraf de Caliu. The musicians from Clejani, Romania, are the last generation of "lăutari" that carry on this authentic traditional music from southern Romania, the music that defined them as one of the best gypsy bands in the world. Under the lead of Caliu, the iconic violinist of the taraf, they are on the road again.

SET LIST

• "Ca la Breaza"
• "Hora lui Caliu"
• "Dragostea de la Clejani"
• "Ciocârlia"

MUSICIANS

• Gheorghe Anghel "Caliu": violin
• Robert Gheorghe: violin
• Iulian Vlad: double bass
• Marin Manole: accordion, vocals
• Ionuț Gulună: vocals
• Cristinel Turturică: cimbalom   

CREDITS

• Production: Șaraimanic & DWMT Production
• Producer: Călina Purje
• Director: Andrei Gheorghe
• 1st AD: Tudor Costache
• Camera operators: Alexandru Yatesey, Răzvan Leucea, Paul Chirilă
• Camera assistant: Daniel Sandu
• Live recording: Mihai "Mushu" Popa
• Mix and master: Mihai "Mushu" Popa, Andrei Boanță
• Video edit and colorization: Paul Vlăsceanu
• Props on set: Dan Statache
• Special thanks to Larisa Perde, Răzvan Murgu, Șaraimanic Community, Diud, Michel Winter, Isabel Soffer

Noura Mint Seymali, Mauritania

Noura Mint Seymali is Mauritania's defining artist on the international stage. Drawing on the timeless repertoire of the Moorish griot, a hereditary class of musical poets and historians, her band conjures "a full blown sandstorm of hypnotic grooves, melding traditional Mauritanian instruments within an electrified psychedelic rock band." Expanding a sound born of Arab and sub-Saharan roots, Noura Mint Seymali bends the arc of Moorish musical tradition to fit our contemporary moment.

SET LIST

• "Na Ha"
• "Tasirit"
• "Ghlana"

MUSICIANS

• Noura Mint Seymali: vocals, ardine
• El Jeich Chighaly: guitar
• Ousmane Touré: bass
• Matthew Tinari: drums

CREDITS

• Producer: Matthew Tinari
• Audio: Dahman Ba
• Video: Dahman Ba, Line Diop, 2F Xaliss
• Special thanks to Levrig Restaurant, Nouakchott

Justin Adams & Mauro Durante, U.K. / Italy

Justin Adams & Mauro Durante released an award-winning debut album, Still Moving, in 2021, moving from serene minimalism to wild catharsis. Adams (producer of Tinariwen's breakout albums and guitarist with Robert Plant) plays with a post-punk guitar approach enriched by his passion for Arabic music and African trance blues, while Durante is a sought-after violinist and percussionist and leader of southern Italy's acclaimed Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who performed its iconic taranta and pizzica dance songs at globalFEST in 2012.

SET LIST

• "Talassa"
• "Cupa Cupa"
• "Dark Road Down"

MUSICIANS

• Justin Adams
• Mauro Durante

CREDITS

• Producer: Run Productions     
• Audio: Yanna Plougoulm, Antonin Volson     
• Video: Samuel Volson, Camera Silens  

TINY DESK TEAM

• Creative Director: Bob Boilen 
• Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin 
• Series Producer: Bobby Carter 
• Editing: Joshua Bryant
• Tiny Desk Team: Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer

GLOBALFEST TEAM

• Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer and Bill Bragin
• 2023 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin and Meera Dugal
• Event Producer: Ian Thake
• Host: Angélique Kidjo
• Legal Services: Tamizdat
• Legal Services: Duane Morris
• Video Production: Karim Tabbaa

FUNDERS:

• The Mellon Foundation
• The National Endowment for the Arts
• NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

SPECIAL THANKS:

• Ken Umezaki
• Fabian Alsultany
• Steven Kirkpatrick
• David Komar

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