Text and photos by Banning Eyre

One of the highlights of the 2003 Festival in the Desert in Essakane, Mali, was the set by the Tuareg traditional ensemble, Tartit. This mostly female group cast a deep spell with their unison singing, slow, trance rhythms, and jubilant ululations. There are two large, deep-toned lutes (tehardent) used on a number of pieces. Womens' instruments also feature in the act, the small, round tinde drums, and the imzad, a delicate, one-stringed fiddle with a wild, warbling sound. Tartit's music pulls you in with gentle, rhythm and melody, and then slow-builds to ecstatic crescendos.

At the Festival in the Desert, Tartit's set on the first night drew rave reviews from, among others, Robert Plant. But after three days of amazing desert music, one almost began to take such pleasures for granted. Now, Tartit is beginning their first true U.S. tour--they played WOMAD-USA in Seattle in 2000--and their hypnotoc sounds come now as a profoundly powerful rarity, cool water in the cultural desert of our war-filled winter.

Tartit's nine-member touring formation--five women and four men--arrived in New York on March 28, and played at Symphony Space on March 29. I was not there, but Afropop's Christina Zanfagna was, and she loved it. "Elegantly cloaked in abundant, flowing layers of white and blue," writes Christina, "Ensemble Tartit gathered in an intimate crescent around drums and stringed instruments. Their continuous handclapping and ululations ornamented by spontaneous outbursts of dancing induced a palpable atmosphere of both erotic and divine transcendence." That blend of sensual and spiritual is key to this group's appeal, and it's a stirring combination every time.

The next afternoon, Tartit arrived for a rest day in Middletown, Connecticut, where I live, they had been traveling almost non-stop since Mali, and had enough of stirring. After a good meal, most of them wanted to sleep. A blast of spring snow, however, provided an unexpected blast of entertainment. Mohamed Issa, the group's guitarist, had never seen the stuff, and was duly impressed.

After making an intimate recording for the Wesleyan University world music archive the following morning, Tartit headed for Boston. The Wesleyan session was delayed at first because one of the tindes had lost its drum head and needed a fix. It took literally all the groups' hands, and a few feet to tie the new head on securely.

In Boston, Tartit was received by the Timbuktu Heritage Institute, and also a local gathering of Amazirt (Berber) people, roughly speaking, cousins of the Tuareg. At a reception for the group hosted by Cultural Survival, two Algerians from Kabylia and a Moroccan from the Atlas Mountains found that Tamaschek (the Tuareg language) and Tamazirt are not mutually intelligible, despite many shared words.

Tartit's show at Johnny D's in Somerville on April 1, was simply spectacular. In a cozy, restaurant/bar, best known for blues, Cajun and other varieties of American boogie music, Tartit drew a solid crowd and proceeded to utterly entrance them. When the group's leader Fadimata--known to her friends as Disco--called on people to dance, they did. Although the slow rhythmic cycle (typically beats 1,2, 4, and 7 of a 12-beat cycle) was a far cry from most familiar dance music, people understood the deeper groove, the undulating wave that produces graceful, easy, and deeply satisfying movement.

Speaking through one of her new Amazirt acquaintances as a translator, Disco offered some interesting commentary on the songs. One spoke about two girls who were such good friends that all the other girls became jealous and began saying very mean things about them. Another spoke about a griot who went to see an Islamic holy man and offered to play music for him. Protesting that music is un-Islamic, the holy man said that griot must give him something else. But the griot said this was all he had, and began to play anyway. Before long the holy man was dancing.

Tartit kept the crowd swaying, clapping, and ululating for a full two sets, and left them transformed. This music has such a strong, unique character, and it is so unlike other Malian music that Americans are used to hearing in live concerts. No chance to hear Tartit live should be missed.

The group came back to Middletown and I had the pleasure of feeding them, and also enjoying a great desert guitar jam with Mohamed Issa and singer Aboubacrine after dinner. The next morning, Tartit was off again, but not before Disco made a visit to a local doctor for a check-up. It turns out, the grand lady of Tartit is pregnant! Thanks to Wesleyan professor of religion (and longtime Afropop contributor) Elizabeth MacAlister, the doctor's visit was hastily arranged, and Disco actually saw her baby via ultrasound. As they left for the rest of the tour, mother and child were judged healthy and happy.

Here's the rest of Tartit's itinerary:
April 11 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music
April 12 Minneapolis, MN Walker Art Center
April 15 Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa/Rhythmic Fusion
April 16 Berkeley, CA Ashkenaz - workshop
April 18 Palo Alto, CA Stanford Lively Arts
April 21-26 Seattle, WA Meany Theater/University of Washington







































































Contributed by: Banning Eyre