Bombino
Bombino is the band of Omara “Bombino” Moctar, guitarist and musician of the North-African Touareg. He grew up during a period of armed struggle for independence and violent repression by government forces. You can hear this reflected in his music, too: desert blues with exciting jams that ache with the spirit of opposition and rebellion.
The echoing guitar riffs are reminiscent of those of other African names like Tinariwen and Ali Farka Touré, but also of Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Page.
In 1990, Bombino had to flee to Algeria with his family, as there was large political unrest in the nomadic Touareg camp of Tidene, Niger. Shortly thereafter, he became one of the world’s best guitarists.
With his album “Deran” (2018), he became the first Nigerian musician with a Grammy nomination. He also won an A2IM Libera Award for Best Global Album. He took his Sahara Rock all over the world, releasing the album “Live in Amsterdam” in 2020. His latest record “Sahel” was recorded in Casablanca (Morocco) with producer David Wrench (known for his work with David Byrne, Frank Ocean, The xx, Goldfrapp, Sampha and Caribou, among others), an album he described as his “most personal, powerful and politically-minded work yet”. He mostly speaks up for his ‘own’ Touareg people, the diverse nomadic tribes spread across multiple North-African countries, the so-called Sahel region. He sings about it in Tamasheq: “Let’s protect our brothers wherever they are because we are the same!”
