Etran Finatawa

Etran Finatawa
  • country:Niger
  • region:West Africa
  • style(s):Touareg, Traditional
  • label:World Music Network
  • instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
  • artist posted by:Gekkobeat

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"It seems Etran Finatawa are on a mission of far greater urgency than just making us dance to their gorgeous grooves". (The Independent, 31 July 2006, Feature by Andy Morgan)

Niger west-african country, today one of the poorest countries in the world. However rich in culture as the region has always been a cross-road between arab culture from the north and african cultures from the south: There are eleven different ethnic groups living in Niger: farmers as pastoralists. Among them the tuareg people and the wodaabe people, both groups are nomadic groups, herding their cattle, their camels, sheep and goat in wide sahelian savanna.
The band is a formation of tuaregs and wodaabe. The band was formed in january 2004. It is the first group at all with wodaabe people making modern music. Etran Finatawa-literally the stars of tradition- was born as a group of 10 musiciens who want to bring the two rich nomad cultures together, profit one of the other and to create a new music-style: Nomad's blues. The tour group consists of 6-8 musicians. Wodaabe and Tuaregs share the same regions for living, but their music is very different:
Wodaabe sing in a traditional matter, they put traditional costumes and make up on. They do not use any instruments but sing in a multivocal way while they dance in slow motion. Their dance, their costumes and their rhythm is unique in the world. Tuareg people have always used instruments, violins and drums to animate their songs and dances. Since the seventies the guitar has found its way in tuareg music. This style is called Ichumar and is a part of Etran Finatawa's repertoire. Etran Finatawa combines the two rich cultures: Their songs are in two languages, tuareg language (tamasheck) and Wodaabe language (fulfulde). The band instrumentalizes the polyphonic songs of the wodaabe people by means of traditional percussion like calebashes and tende, a traditional tuareg drum. The rhythm is given by a guitar. The polyphonic choir of wodaabe singers gives a special note to their music. Handclapping and the rich percussion leads the songs, invite to dance. The group has two main singers. Their melodies, their rythms, their voices create a sound picture of the sahelian grasslands, the desert. Their songs talk about nomad's life, isolation and liberty, they talk about happy days, and love and festivities as well as about bad days, droughts, poverty and exode.