Prepare to be blown away by the intesity of Al Bilali Soudan. 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.

From Timbuktu Mali AL BILALI SOUDAN are members of an extended family of craftsmen who for generations have been sought after musicians and griots. The band is a torch-bearer of a quintessentially Tamasheq music shaped by continuous interplay between tehardent and hand percussion. Abellou and his uncle Abou are masters of the genre. Accompanied by their sons and cousins they bring youth and energy to the music. Lightning fast, sometimes looping, this is intense mastery of a traditional repertoire is improvised and adapted into the 21st century. Their work represents cultural preservation renewed. The music retains a similar intensity and urgency while remaining loose and dreamlike. Melodic phrases spiral around and on top of each other while shouts of ecstatic joy and proddings are peppered amid the more traditional praises.