Bombino

Dates: April 12, 2012 to April 12, 2012
Location: Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario)

Presented in association with Batuki Music Society & Sponsored by CIUT 89.5FM For centuries, the desert town of Agadez has served as a converging point for the great camel caravans driven by the Tuareg that link West Africa with North Africa and the Mediterranean. Born in 1980 at a nomadic camp near this dusty outpost, the young guitarist and songwriter Omara Bombino Moctar was raised during an era of armed struggles for Tuareg independence and violent suppression by government forces. Bombinos electrifying jams capture the spirit of resistance and rebellion while echoing with guitar riffs reminiscent of fellow Africans Tinariwen and Ali Farka Tour not to mention rock and blues icons such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Page. Already a superstar in the Tuareg community, with the release of Agadez on Cumbancha Discovery (April 18th in Europe and April 19th in North America), Bombino’s stature as one of Africa’s hottest young guitarists will be revealed to the world.

Just thirty years old, Bombino has earned renown throughout the Sahara for his guitar wizardry, and his bootleg tapes are traded among music fans in the region like illicit treasures. Some of Bombino’s early and live recordings have made their way into the hands of enthusiasts in the West, and in 2006 Bombino traveled to California with the band Tidawt to record with Keith Richards and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones. He even served as Angelina Jolie’s guide to the region when she visited a few years ago. His Casanova good looks, enigmatic charisma and natural charm have endeared him to his fans, and his compelling life story and socially conscious songs led him to be the subject of an award-winning new documentary film, Agadez, the Music & the Rebellion, that is currently making the rounds of film festivals in the U.S. and Europe. As a child, Bombino learned the traditional survival skills necessary to a nomadic lifestyle but this life was disrupted when he was barely 12 years old and his family fled to Tamanrasset, Algeria to escape the hostilities related to the first Tuareg rebellion. However, destiny is often revealed during difficulty, and in that same year Bombino picked up his first guitar. After the rebellion calmed, Bombino returned to Niger in 1997. Tuareg guitar was forbidden by the authorities who considered it a symbol of the rebellion. When the conflict reignited in 2007 the military executed two of Bombinos fellow musicians, once again driving him into exile for several years. In January 2010, Bombino was able to return home to Agadez and with the Sultans blessing, staged a concert outside the Grande Mosque to celebrate the end of the rebellion. Over a thousand people showed up, and after three years of violence, drought and a devastating flood, Agadez found a reason to celebrate.