Customer Reviews

Festival In the Desert

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was very excited when I saw this DVD in the store, and I bought it. I really wanted to see Oumou Sangare and Tinariwen perform live, but in both cases, just as the song starts, THEY CUT AWAY FOR AN INTERVIEW! Somehow they manage to include complete performances from the people I didn't care about (Robert Plant, the awful French group, the Navajo heavy-metal band...) while short-changing the actual local bands. The Navajo band is intriguingly weird: the lead singer gives a heart-felt speech about his people losing their culture and language, then the band launches into a heavy-metal song sung in ENGLISH. That was kinda (sadly) amusing...

Billed as the 'Woodstock of the Sahara' and other names, FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT's various artists are unified by one thing: participation in a 2003 desert ethnic music fest sixty kilometers northwest of Timbuktu in Mali.
 Its organization - a non-government association of international world councils and unions - includes such diverse groups as Tinariwen, Robert Plant, Ali Farka Toure, Omou Sangare, and more: so don't expect a uniformity of sound or theme in FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT 2003's production: sounds and styles are all over the board.
 This is the place to hear new groups; from the renowned band LoJo to the UK answer to Ry Cooder in Justin Adams.
 The live recording is clean and clear enough that little is lost in fidelity due to audience participation: so if it's twenty diverse cuts of African music from across the continent that's needed as an introduction to some of the best artists of modern times, don't miss FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT 2003 - or future yearly productions to come.

It seems like an unlikely concept: "Let's have a music festival in one of the most remote, inhospitable places on earth!" But that's exactly what happened in the Sahara Desert back in January 2003, drawing together a few dozen musicians from host-country Mali, neighboring Mauritania, and even a few from France, the US, and the UK. Had Robert Plant not been among the latter contingent, the event would likely have attracted little attention outside rarified "world music" circles. But there he was, nestled amid the dunes and jamming with the locals, and fortunately somebody was able to get a CD made of all this.

"FESTIVAL" features just one track apiece from Plant and 19 other artists who took part in this 3-day patch of improbability, though they each performed whole sets. (Several other groups who also took part according to the notes don't appear on the CD at all.) So it's a highly varied collection, but somehow the different hues all blend together. Plant's featured contribution, "Win My Train Fare Home," is a bluesy number quite in keeping with the tone of the festival. Malian pop stars like Oumou Sangare, Ali Farka Toure and Adama Yalomba are interspersed with lesser known locals, many of them Toureg desert-dwellers, as well as a handful of non-African groups.

It's been said that the blues can be traced back to Mali, and musicians like Ali Farka have capitalized on this legend by inflecting their songs with sounds inspired by American blues greats (John Lee Hooker in particular). Maybe that case has been overstated somewhat--if he sounds like John Lee, it's probably due more to his collection of American blues records than to a primeval connection that survived the Middle Passage. Nevertheless, from the music on this disc it's obvious that rock and blues have plenty in common with West African music. It may not float every Led Zep fan's boat, but it's a fine collection of songs from a very unlikely place.

I rented this yesterday and after viewing, ran to my computer to try and buy one to own. There is the mystique of the desert alone that is captivating and the fusion of the North African/ West African influences, the French and American, well it is too exotic for words. The Navejo, the blues and the African rhythms all coming together under the open skies with goats & camels. Reggae on the River has nothing on this festival. I only wish it had been longer. Trying to do a DVD of such an event and capturing it all, I'm sure was challenging. It was a great "sampling" of talent, but as a "music" video, there weren't enough pieces from each group. I was hoping for more on the special features. In I"LL Sing For You, the extras were great. But, Festival is still a unique and extraordinary journey!

Just returned, in January, from the latest edition of the Festival au Desert. The music was not as good as this album, but the experience of being at the most exotic music festival in the world certainly made up for it. The highlights, this year, were Habib Koite, an Irish traditonal band and the many lesser known Taureg bands that played throughout the three days. But I was introduced, via tape, to Tinariwen and I had gone hoping to catch Ali Farka Toure at the festival. Listening to this album has really taken me back to Essakane and the Sahara. It is truely a jewel of a cd, capturing some great perfomances by Lo Jo, Robert Plant, Tinariwen, Ali Farka Toure, and a Native American band called Blackfire. Great recording made out in the desert and a true treasure of Malian, Saharan, and other world music. I count it as a top five pick of recent African music.

Andy Hanson

"Festival in the Desert" is a beautiful and well-made documentary of North and West African musicians, along with a few European and American artists, performing in the Malian desert outside Timbuktu at the edge of the Sahara Desert, in what has to be one of the most unique musical events in the world....it is NOT a concert DVD. As some of the other reviewers have astutely indicated, there are cut-aways during songs. Some performer's songs are only heard as "sound bites." That being said, I respect the production values put forth in this DVD, and enjoy it in a Zen-like manner- it is what it is. But if you are a person who is only looking for soup-to-nuts musical video, with lots of DVD "bells and whistles", I'd urge you to spend your hard-earned money on other DVD's.

They arrived on camel's backs ... they arrived in SUVS ... they came by airplane ... from the USA and Europe -- to Essakane, Mali, to the Sahara Desert for a concert to end all concerts. Setting up a stage and sound equipment alone must have been a challenge, but the results on this CD -- prove it was a hugely successful effort. Amazing! This is the *third* such event!

Indeed, as the liner notes state, "Magic comes from humans and nature." While the listener can only imagine the magic of the desert ... the magic of the humans can *definitely* be heard on this CD. Track #1 begins with the sounds of the kora (21 stringed Manding harp), accompanied shortly by chanting, and then strong masculine guitar playing ... This music is infectious!!! I am frequently on my feet, unconcsiously improvising indigenous dances to the unbelievable djembe (drum) rhythms on track #1. The liner notes tell us, it is the Tamashek rhythm based on the gait of the camel. The unusual vocalizations of the women's group, "Tartit" awaken the listener to a new realization of melody and synchrony ... Robert Plant and Justin Adams play "blues in the desert" on track #4 and yes (!) Robert Plant can come "crawlin' to me on the floor" any time he wants ... talk about heart-pounding music. Another fusion sound that works wonders is track #6 on which the French group Lo'Jo combine their vocals with the W. Mali composer, Django. The style is soft and fluid. It is accompanied by a dynamic electric violin. This CD includes the chanting, vocals and rock music of the American desert as well, "Blackfire" who hale from Arizona add another dimension to round out the music on this CD. The music is original. The music is contagious. The music is contemporary. This CD weaves musical energy meridians around the planet --- connecting two worlds that are not so far apart.
Erika Borsos (erikab93)

So you can't make it to Essakane for the Festival in the Desert this year? Well don't worry, because theres finally a recording of performances from the annual festival on CD. For those not familiar, the Festival in the Desert is an annual event in Mali where artists from across West Africa (and, increasingly, across the world) gather in the middle of the Sahel (Africa's great dust bowl, the hot, dry, dusty region immediately south of the Sahara desert) for a performance. Some of the greatest names in Mande and Tuareg music appear on this outstandingly cool compilation - desert rockers Tinariwen, legendary wassoulou singer Oumou Sangare, Kel Tin Lokiene of Timbuktu, Mauritanian jali (griot) Aicha bint Chighaly, the late Ali Farka Toure (Mali's famous 'desert bluesman') and his protege Afel Bocoum, amongst many others. Adding a more international flavor, there are also appearances by artists from beyond the Sahel. Theres a collaboration between Justin Adams and Robert Plant (yes, THE Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin), French multi-cultural outfit Lo'Jo, and (most interestingly) a Navajo band called Blackfire. Any of these artists would be well worth it by themselves, and I strongly encourage you to seek out their individual releases if you like this CD, but together the result is... incredible. It's raw, live, gritty and dusty - just like if you were actually attending. So if you can't actually make it to Mali to see the Festival for yourself, maybe you should check out this CD instead. It will make you into a fan of West African music.

This was pretty interesting, I enjoyed seeing shots of the desert setting and the Tuaregs in their traditional garb doing their traditional customs... It was also nice to learn a little more about the Tuareg rebellion they like to talk about (although it would've been nice to learn a little more about the southern culture featured (Malian? or also Songhai?), and the differences and problems leading to the rebellion...

It would've been nice to see some more graphics / text to help orient the viewer to where you are in the world and when - I noticed the setting jumped locations but anyone not intimately familiar with that part of the world would have a hard time following what exactly is happening, when and where...

I did enjoy seeing Robert Plant cause I'm a fan, the French band wasn't bad either as their sound seemed to fit in with the cultural revival vibe they had going on. But I agree with that top review about the Navajo band. I would've much preferred to hear some sort of traditional Navajo-influenced music, especially with the singer's speech about how his Navajo peers need to keep in touch with their heritage and culture... but instead we get this ranty, angry, RATM-style, over-drive guitar sound and screamy singing. And it would've been nice to give more air time to the local musicians.

This was pretty interesting, I enjoyed seeing shots of the desert setting and the Tuaregs in their traditional garb doing their traditional customs... It was also nice to learn a little more about the Tuareg rebellion they like to talk about (although it would've been nice to learn a little more about the southern culture featured (Malian? or also Songhai?), and the differences and problems leading to the rebellion...

It would've been nice to see some more graphics / text to help orient the viewer to where you are in the world and when - I noticed the setting jumped locations but anyone not intimately familiar with that part of the world would have a hard time following what exactly is happening, when and where...

I did enjoy seeing Robert Plant cause I'm a fan, the French band wasn't bad either as their sound seemed to fit in with the cultural revival vibe they had going on. But I agree with that top review about the Navajo band. I would've much preferred to hear some sort of traditional Navajo-influenced music, especially with the singer's speech about how his Navajo peers need to keep in touch with their heritage and culture... but instead we get this ranty, angry, RATM-style, over-drive guitar sound and screamy singing. And it would've been nice to give more air time to the local musicians.