Event

Tal National - April 1 2015

8pm
$10
21+

Tal National - April 1, 2015

Tal National, formed in the year 2000, is a West African phenomenon. The band is from Niamey, the capital city of Niger. They've had several #1 songs in their home country and are constantly featured on national TV.

Niger is West Africa's largest nation, and one of the world's poorest. Resting between Mali and Nigeria, and not far from Ghana, it enjoys a greatly varied mix of cultures and ethnicities, all richly steeped in music. Hence it is no stranger to highlife music, kora music, afrobeat, while giving the world 'Tuareg Blues' and its own brand of hip hop. Now Tal National is bringing something entirely new to the table, and Niger is growing increasingly unified in their passion for what the band has to offer.

Through this joyously hypnotic, highly unique contribution to West African guitar music with lightning-fast rhythms and a rotating cast of vocalists, the history of Niger can be heard as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. Collected within the former French colony can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in Tal National's members.

On stage Tal National perform with six musicians, but because of their rigorous performance schedule here might be up to thirteen members at any one time. Their concert material combines original songs with new arrangements of West African folk songs, themes of which deal with love, tolerance, peace, feminine beauty, and the woman's physical dance expression based on traditional African rhythms.

The band is driven by the charismatic, forward-thinking bandleader, Hamadal "Almeida" Moumine, who also teaches at the local SOS Children's Village twice a week, serves as a judge in local courts, and had a successful soccer career before becoming Niger's best-loved guitarist.