AL BILALI SOUDAN

From Tombouctou/Timbuktu, Northern Mali AL BILALI SOUDAN are members of an extended family of craftsmen who for generations have been sought after musicians and griots. Led by Abellow Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of the quintessentially Tamasheq music style called tashigalt, which is shaped on the continuous exchange between the three-stringed tehardent and the relentless percussive rhythm of the calabash. 

Al Bilali Soudan have a multigenerational history as musicians. Among their influences are Ahmoudou Ag Intalokete, Abellow Yattara’s father and Agou Keina his uncle and a key member of the group Le Mali des Sables. That group was the first recorded example of this genre and was released in 1971 by the German label Bärenreiter-Musicaphon.
Other influences are Amano Ag Issa, the tehardent musician of the group Tartit, Ali Farka Toure, Khaira Arby, Fissa Maiga, Bassekou Kouyate, the band Super Onze de Gao and Afel Bocoum.
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 music has gradually evolved through cultural fusion with other ethnic groups over centuries. In sharp contrast to Tuareg contemporaries like Tinariwen and Bombino, Al Bilali Soudan take a more acoustic, stripped-down approach to Tamasheq folk music traditions.

Born in 1953 in Timbuktu, Abellaw Yattara is the elder of the group.  He is a master of this style.  Taught by his father he first learned to play the instrument at age 7. In 2010 he gave a stringed instrument workshop at Berklee College of Music in Boston.  His performances are electric. He is accompanied by his uncle Aboubacrine Yattara who was born in 1963 in Bamako and who similarly learned the instrument from his father. These two form the core of the group and have been performing together for decades. They are joined by their sons Mohamed Abellaw and Ibrahim Ag Aboubacrine. They bring youth and energy to the music. The group’s pride in their cultural heritage is manifest in the verve and complexity that they achieve. Lightning fast, sometimes looping, this is intense mastery of a traditional repertoire improvised and adapted into the 21st century.

Popular among the local population, their music continues to evolve while preserving its unique cultural heritage. Al Bilali Soudan perform regularly in the Timbuktu region and in Bamako, the nation’s capital. This performance tour will be the group’s debut in North America. Abellaw Yattara is the only group member to have performed outside of West Africa. In 2010 he accompanied Khaira Arby on her international tour appearing at Festivals across North America. 

The group’s name derives from Bilal ibn Rabah born in Mecca in 580. A contemporary of the Prophet Muhammed, Bilal was a former slave known for his voice with which he called people to prayer. Muhammad chose Bilal as the first Mu'azzin. The story of Bilal is the most frequently cited demonstration of Islam's views of measuring people not by their nationality nor social status nor race, but measuring people by their Piety. One of Bilal’s descendants is said to have migrated to West Africa. Soudan derives from Soudan Français, the West African colonial region. Thus the group’s name pays tribute to their Muslim background, their slave ancestry, and the history of colonialism.

The members of Al Bilali Soudan continue to live in Mali and work as craftsmen and musicians.



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Presented by Zebulon.

Al Bilali Soudan

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