Introducing a New Prince of the Desert Blues: Kader Tarhanine
photo Credit : Famah Walet
On the edge of the Sahara Desert, the desert blues music and traditional dance are very important in nomadic communities. Music and dance are a means of gathering different communities together and that encourage different ethnic groups to accept each other. Music is a force for peace that brings hope to the hearts of communities.
The melody of traditional Touareg music instruments is stronger than the noise of weapons. Songs transcend borders and reach into the hearts of lovers of desert blues. Among the Touareg, music is a catalyst for peace that carries a message of reconciliation, calling nomads back to their homeland.
In an exclusive interview, the Touareg guitarist and singer Kader Tarhanine explained his journey as a musician. Kader Tarhanine is a new talent of the desert blues.
Q: Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
A: My name is Sadou Abdoul Kader. I was born in 1989 in the village of Borj El Moctar , Algeria. I trace my origins back to nomad Touaregs of the fabled Sahara Desert of Mali, particularly the region of Menaka, in Mali’s far northeast, near the border with the country of Niger.
Photo Credit : Famah Walet
Q: How did music become a part of your life?
A: I grew up with music because since my childhood, I heard my mother sing traditional Touareg songs while working and I sang with her. So, when I was around seven years old, I made my own artisanal guitar from metal cans and started playing music. I entertained my friends. My mother was my first coach in music and because I started singing with her, I learned a lot of old traditional songs and later on I started to play with other friends who shared the same love for music.
Q: Did you sing songs about the Touareg cultural heritage?
A: All my music is about the cultural heritage of the Touareg nomads of the Sahara Desert. Because for me there is no difference between nomads. All the people living in and sharing the Sahara Desert are nomads. My songs are more about nomad life and the difficulties our communities face in the middle of the sand dunes of the Sahara. I also sing about nomad youth empowerment and how to develop their grassroots communities. For instance, in my song title, “Tumast,” which in the Touareg language of Tamasheq means, “nomad community,” I sensitize my nomad brothers and sisters to develop their homeland. And in the song “Ténéré,” which is the Tamasheq word for “desert,” I sing about the beauty of the Sahara and how blood is linked to the Sahara and the nomad life style in the desert.
Sidiki Diabate and Kader
Q: Did you use Touareg traditional instruments?
A: Yes of course, I use Touareg traditional musical instruments in my songs. We use the Tindé, the Imzad. (Single-string bowed instruments used by the Tuareg. The body is made out of a calabash or wood gourd which is covered by animal skin. The strings are made from horse hair. They are connected near the neck, and run over a two-part bridge. The round bow is also equipped with horse hair.)
We also use the Touareg flute and modern instruments, like the electric guitar.
Q: What are your preferred themes in the music you make?
A: My preferred themes are generally the union of Touareg communities, life, desert life of nomads, and love because for me without love there is no life.
Q: In a highly traditional and conservative Touareg society how is music perceived by traditionalists?
A: Indeed, it’s difficult with traditional conservatives of our culture. My own story is traced back to a marabout family. My dad is a marabout (traditional Muslim preacher and teacher). At the beginning he never wanted me to be a musician. But with time and with my love, passion and achievement in music he understands that I am dedicated to music and now he accepts my music and encourages me. Music is my art, my passion and my first love.
El Hadj and Kader
Q: You are working on new album please can you talk about your new album?
A: Well, I am actually working on a new album called the Roots of Nomads of the Sahara Desert. For me, natives of the Sahara Desert must take care of their desert and preserve the cultural heritage legacy of the Sahara because nobody can develop the Sahara Desert better than the desert native.
Q: Do you think that music can be a catalyst for lasting peace?
A: Music is the best weapon to reach people particularly the new generation so absolutely it can be a catalyst for lasting peace on the edge of the Sahara Desert and positive social change among our grassroots communities. Today, in most conflicts across the globe it’s the youth who suffer the most, but everybody knows that youth are the future and the present. I sing about peacebuilding to sensitize youth from different cultural backgrounds to accept each other and live together as brothers and sisters.
Illily and Kader in the desert of Timbuktu
For instance, during our concert I always notice the power of music to bring youth together to sing and dance together in the rhythm of our songs. This is a great path through peace and national reconciliation in Mali.
Q: What is your message of peace?
A: We are all children of the Sahara Desert, no matter where you come from or which tribe you are from we are actors on our communities’ development and without peace and the acceptance of each other, our communities will always be exiled from each other. We must live together in Peace.
El Hadj Djitteye
Editor : Peter Chilson
Photo Credit : Famah Walet , Tidart
