Studio album from Bamako-based Tuareg band Amanar de Kidal. "Kel Tamacheq" is years in the making, a self produced DIY album, recorded in the small studios of the Malian capital over the past few years.
Carrying on in the tradition of assouf, the Northern Malian style of Tuareg guitar popularized by artists like Tinariwen, Amanar pushes the sound forward into tight upbeat groove and kinetic rhythms, reflecting the rich diversity of Mali and the energy of the capital. The band takes its name from their hometown Kidal, a remote outpost deep in the Saharan mountains of the far North. Led by singer/songwriter Ahmed Ag Kaedy, the band Amanar has spent the past 15 years dispersed, with Kaedy making his home in Bamako.
The title, meaning "Tuareg People" in Tamasheq, carries with it a message: a call for unity among the scattered community. Recorded with musicians from across Mali's many ethnic communities, "Kel Tamasheq" is not just a personal vision, but a sketch for a country at peace.
"Among the Tuareg, some are with Mali, some are with the rebels, some are with the Jihadists", Kaedy says. "The spirit of the album is to say: our misfortune is the source of our division. It's an album driven by Tuareg identity. If we can remember who we are, and let it guide us, we will never lose the road."
