Clermont Music

Caravan for Peace: Malian Musicians’ Call for Peaceful Dialogue Comes to the US. War can’t stop the music, and Malian artists continue to practice their craft despite the recent upheaval and violence in their country. In support of and to highlight their tenacity, the Festival au Desert - Caravan for Peace brings to the US legendary Malian artists adored in Mali. Over its 12-year history, the Festival in the Desert has featured everyone from rock idols to Saharan nomads. Now some of those artists are coming to several U.S. and Canadian cities in July and August 2013. Stops include New York (Lincoln Center Out of Doors), Montreal (Festival Nuits d’Afrique), Santa Fe (Lensic Theater), Northampton, MA (Iron Horse), Trumansburg, NY (Grassroots Festival), Spiegeltent at the Hudson Valley’s Bard Music Festival, and more in Brooklyn, Washington DC, and beyond. The Caravan will shine a light on two of Mali’s greatest contributions to the world’s music: the Tuareg desert blues sounds and the Malian Niger delta blues. Both reveal the deep and gritty roots, and the striking skill and musicianship of Mali’s beleaguered artists. Tartit/Imharhan transform from a very traditional mixed female/male ensemble—where voices, small hand drums (tinde), and stringed instruments form the basis for trance-inducing songs—to a band that reflects the often experimental, fascinating Tuareg adaptation of Saharan nomad music to contemporary, electric sounds. Mamadou Kelly made a name for himself by playing with greats like the late Malian blues legend Ali Farka Toure. A virtuosic acoustic guitar player, Kelly has an encyclopedic knowledge of Malian music, as well as lightning-fast technique and a soulful voice. He is accompanied by the equally legendary artists, Hama Sankare on calabash and Youro Cisse on monochord violin. Held in the Sahara Desert outside Timbuktu, the Festival au Desert (http://www.festival-au-desert.org) was where cultures came together in unexpected ways for 12 years. Artists from the Arctic Circle to the small Pacific Island of New Caledonia, from stars like Bono and Robert Plant to traditional musicians from remote communities, have all found a warm welcome at the Festival, helping to put little-known Saharan music on the global map. A nationalist uprising in Mali’s north reignited immediately after the January 2012 edition of the Festival came to a close. That nationalist rebellion was soon hijacked by hard-line religious fundamentalists, and conditions rapidly deteriorated in the region. Invaluable historical monuments were sacked and destroyed. Women’s rights were taken away. Secular music was banned under a strict version of sharia. In January 2013, the fighting intensified as France and other countries intervened. The 13th edition of the Festival had to be postponed. Today, the situation has improved but remains unresolved. The country’s woes did not stop musicians and music lovers from singing, playing, and speaking out for peace and freedom. In solidarity with the Festival in the Desert, many musicians are determined to take their message of peace across Mali and abroad. The Caravan for Peace presents some of the best of those artists and their efforts to testify to the endurance of their music, art, and culture.