I know that I’m not the only one who’s got the desert blues in the middle of a grey and rainy European winter.
I’m listening to the best album of last year, Savane from Ali Farka Toure . It’s the sort of album where you don’t need to understand the words, the themes are universal but the album is all about the guitar playing. If you’ve seen the Blues series from Martin Scorsese, then I’m sure you remember Ali Farka. Here’s a nice article about Ali .
I also recently purchased African Soul Rebel which is the last album from Tinariwen plus an hour long documentary about the band, their history and their struggle. I’ve burned it to a disk with The Festival in the Desert DVD to help carry me away from rainy Switzerland. Here’s a nice link to a concert by Tinariwen found on the web . Watch for the new CD this month.
I’m anxiously awaiting the new CD from my friend, Karim, in Frankfurt. If you haven’t heard the first one, and I’m sure you haven’t, then you have to check out KifKif. . Do yourself a favor and download Baqshish . Karim et ses Amis live in Frankfurt but come from a number of places in the world. Karim is owner of a beautiful store in Frankfurt am Main <Souk> . He also has a place between Rabat and Sale . And never forget that Sale is a famous pirate city and one day his pirate radiostation will be broadcasting.
Jimmy Buffett managed to make the Festival in the Desert this year, it will have to stay on my backburner for a bit, I’m afraid . In addition, here’s a video of Jimmy Buffett playing in Morocco from October last year .
