Kiran Ahluwalia & Souad Massi - 2018.Apr.19 KEXP Session

And now let's go to some other parts on other globe, like the two ladies did cq.had to do also. Kiran Ahluwalia born in India, moved first to Canada and now living in New York; Souad Massi born in Algeria, after death threats (because of playing in the political rock band Atakor) left the country and settled in Paris, France.

Kiran Ahluwalia & Souad Massi - 2018.April, Seattle (from facebook)

LOVEfest

An eclectic celebration of love and diversity through music and dance.
Throughout the ages people have struggled to extend the love and respect offered to those familiar to us to others who are different and unknown - to minorities, immigrants, refugees and other vulnerable members of society. Artists, musicians, and religious and civil leaders alike have all advocated variations of the theme "Love your neighbor" or "Welcome The Stranger." This call to acknowledge the common humanity of all people - and by extension their individual human rights - is a founding principle of modern society.
Kiran Ahluwalia’s LOVEfest combines the talents of sacred and secular artists from both Muslim and Sikh traditions (two communities currently experiencing an alarming rise in hate crimes). Featuring the passionate vocals of Kiran Ahluwalia (from India), inspired Arabic songwriting of Souad Massi (Algeria), combined with traditional Sikh temple singers (here for the first time on the concert stage) and the colorful whirling of Egyptian Tanoura Sufi dancers, LOVEfest illuminates a diverse world of cultural artistic expression; offering performers and audiences alike an opportunity to "Welcome The Stranger."
-- source: http://www.kiranmusic.com/lovefest/


Listen to Kiran and Souad performing Deb (written by Souad)



AHLUWALIA & MASSI - 20180419 Session KEXP


Kiran Ahluwalia & Souad Massi - 2018.Apr.19 KEXP Session
Kiran Ahluwalia: DJ intro / 1.Khafa - Up In Arms / interview / 2.Saat - Seven / interview
Souad Massi: 3.Hayati / interview / 4.Amessa / interview
Ahluwalia & Massi: 5.Deb / DJ outro
bc.2018.Apr.19 in Wo' Pop at KEXP
i know this session is listenable at KEXP and upped on it's youtube channel, but I like this so much that it deserves a separate posting here in Mango Land!


So far they only played together for about a month in the US, I hope that their LOVEfest will go all over the world, and especially those places where it is mostly needed!
Like in Yemen, East-Ukraine & Syria, after peace is agreed between the fighting parties; in Hungary currently under the yoke of xenophobia spread by potential dictator Orban; etc...

Profiter de la musique! Always EAT them RAW!!!

Tal National - 2015 - US Radio Sessions

Let's jump over the east border of Mali and visit with Mangue Music for the 2nd time (after Les Filles) the country of Niger to hear some radio sessions by Tal National.

Tal National in the New York metro (source: WFMU)

adapted from bio at talnational.com
Tal National spent more than a decade crisscrossing Niger, usually on dirt pathways through the Sahara, playing epic five-hour sets, seven days a week, selling their CDs on street corners and roundabouts. In the process, they became Niger’s most popular band. In Niger, a former French colony, can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in Tal National’s members.
In Tal National’s music we hear the rolling 12/8 rhythms in the Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the pensive aridity of the Tuareg’s assouf and the exquisite griot guitar of Mali’s Songhai, all delivered with virtuoso precision and unrelenting energy. The band speaks French, but use the American term “very rock and roll” quite seriously, implying their awareness that the loud guitars and bewildering rhythmic complexity separate them from their West African peers.
On stage Tal National perform with six musicians, but because of their rigorous performance schedule there might be up to thirteen members at any one time. At shows, musicians regularly change places midway through songs (including the amazing sight of drummers swapping without missing a beat). On some nights the band might split up to play two gigs simultaneously.
In 2013 they recorded and released their first international album 'Kaani', after which they went on an international tour, playing a.o.in North-America and Western-Europe. Their 2nd international release 'Zoy Zoy' was recorded in Niamey, Niger’s capital, by Chicago-based producer/engineer Jamie Carter, using a remote recording rig in a dusty makeshift studio. In the tour around this release of this album, they did radio sessions for WFMU in New York and for KEXP in Seattle.

"The first thing that hits you when you listen to Tal National is the band’s tightness and fiery energy." --NPR (2013)
"The music keeps leaping ahead with one surprise after another: guitar parts that align and diverge and reconfigure, drumming that pounces on offbeats. The patterns are crisp, complex and tireless." --New York Times (2013)

Listen to a track from the KEXP Session


TAL NATIONAL 2015 - US Radio Sessions

Tal National - 2015.Apr.11 WFMU
playlist: 1.Kaani / 2.Saraounia / 3.Say Wata Gaya / 4.Ah-ah / 5.Zoy Zoy
broadcasted: 2015.Apr.11 Transpacific Sound Paradise

Tal National - 2015.May.10 KEXP
playlist: 1.Farila / 2.Zoy Zoy / 3.Liba
broadcasted: 2015.May.12 Wo' Pop (with Darek Mazzone)

Discography

sources: talnational.com and talnational.bandcamp.com

before 2013: 2 unknown local releases (info from NPR story)
2013: Kaani (CD/LP/digital, Fat Cat Records #FATCD/LP.126)
2015: Zoy Zoy (CD/LP/digital, Fat Cat Records #FATCD/LP.137)

Watch and Listen

• 2013 KEXP Radio Session - youtube
• 2013 NPR Review - Rock Stars Of West Africa - npr
• 2013 WBEZ Radio Session - soundcloud
• 2015 KEXP Radio Session - youtube (with additional 4th track)