- Thursday 3 July
Over the years, we at Roskilde Festival have had the pleasure of getting acquainted with several outstanding representatives of West African Tuareg music. Just think of names like Tinariwen, Bombino, and Boubacar Traoré.
While many Tuareg musicians have fused ancient traditions with modern rock and blues, Al Bilali Soudan has taken a different and more folk-oriented path, rich in repetitive progressions, chanting vocals, and trance-inducing drums. The band from Timbuktu cultivates the deep and ritual Tamasheq music that has been performed by griot musicians for hundreds of years to mark the changing of the seasons and healing seances.
Al Bilali Soudan, led by Abellau Yattara and embracing several generations of musicians, are not just tradition bearers. They are very much bringing traditional music into the 21st century with an electrified approach. While the ensemble's early music was acoustic-based, albums like Tombouctou (2020) and Babi (2023) really put electricity to the fascinating string playing without sacrificing the raw, folk music tone.
Al Bilali Soudan's ecstatic music has thrilled at several festivals. Now they are ready to send Roskilde Festival into a trance.
