An intimate performance from Mdou Moctar filmed at dawn along the Niger River. Mdou Moctar's new album 'Afrique Victime' out now on Matador Records. Order and stream the album here:
mdou.ffm.to/afriquevictime From Mikey Coltun:
Before it was decided that it was too unsafe for us to travel together outside the Niger capital, Niamey, we were planning to do concerts in villages throughout Niger, all with beautiful scenery. When Ahmoudou and I spent some time together at the beginning of the trip, we went location scouting in Niamey to see how we can achieve something similar while staying around the capital.
A friend of ours had taken us to a place on the outskirts of Niamey, "In the bush". This land was right on the Niger River: a river flowing through Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Brainstorming different locations for filming, we came up with the idea to film a few songs at this location as the sun was coming up one morning.
On the night before I departed Niger, we played a late concert, loaded everything into Mdou's car, packed in there all together, and dropped off the gear to the location about 30 minutes away. Mdou decided to sleep on location with the gear so none of it gets stolen. The rest of us woke up the next morning at 4am, got into the car, picked up breakfast at a bakery, and drove to the location.
We set up quickly as we didn't want to lose filming the sun coming up. We made a fire to keep us warm and also to keep the Tuareg tea brewing while we played. As we started playing “Tala Tannam” the sun came up and the two-colored Saharan bird, the pied crow, the symbol for Mdou Moctar, flew above us. Midway through the session we were greeted by a pack of goats coming towards us from who knows where. They stopped and listened for a bit. Totally spontaneous, as things usually are for the Mdou Moctar group. This session proved to be one of the most beautiful performances we've played together.
Credits:
Mahamadou Souleymane ‘Mdou Moctar’ : Lead Guitar, Vocals
Ahmoudou Madassane: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Mikey Coltun: Bass, Vocals
Souleymane Ibrahim: Calabash, Vocals
Recorded by: Mikey Coltun
Mixed and Mastered by: Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets
Edited by: Sabrina Nichols
Mdou Moctar:
www.instagram.com/mdou_moctar/ twitter.com/MdouMoctar www.facebook.com/mdoumoctarofficial www.mdoumoctar.com/ www.matadorrecords.com/bands/view/321 Matador Records on the web:
www.matadorrecords.com/ www.facebook.com/matadorrecords twitter.com/matadorrecords instagram.com/matadorrecords #MdouMoctar #AfriqueVictime
@jacobgates1986
2 years ago
In my tribe Ohkay Owingeh NM, USA, we bury our dead with the rising sun , when we are most peace to help send off our loved ones so they can be free and rise up with the sun. So in the morning I feel most alive, waking up with the rising sun knowing that I am most alive to wake up another day to enjoy beautiful music, along with watching the world transform from dark to light.
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