Today’s audio travels take us to Niamey, the capital city of Niger, to catch up with the extraordinary band Tal National. Landlocked, and with over 80% of this West African country covered by the Sahara desert, Niger remains one of the poorest nations in the world. This means that even though Tal National is one of the countries’s favorite bands, they can still be seen on the streets of Niamey selling their CDs, due to Niger’s lack of reliable distribution. Tal National is fronted by the amazing guitarist Hamadal Issoufou Moumine (aka Almeida), who also had a successful soccer career before beginning to study music in 1992 with the balafon master Ali Keita. His 6-piece band brings together the spirit of traditional African musics like the 12/8 rhythms found in Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the Tuareg’s “desert blues”, as well as the “griot guitar” of Mali’s Songhai people, while making these forms electric, modern, and vibrant. On September 9/10th Tal National will release their third LP Kaani, via Fat Cat Records. For the recording, the band hooked up again with the Chicago engineer Jamie Carter, recording the album over a two week stretch back in 2011 at Niamey’s Studio Maibianigarba. Tal National is also known for their rigorous touring and live schedule which often finds them playing five hour shows without a break, while covering over 18,000 kilometers yearly to perform in over 40 cities throughout Niger. This year the band will achieve their life-long dream of performing outside their home country, and folks lucky enough will be able catch up with Tal National as they tour the US and Canada beginning later in September!
Sep 14 – Artisphere, Arlington VA
Sep 18 – Mayne Stage @ Chicago World Music Festival, Chicago IL
Sep 19 – Martyrs @ Chicago World Music Festival, Chicago IL
Sep 21 – Global Union Festival, Milwaukee WI
Sep 25 – Stuart’s Opera House, Nelsonville OH
Sep 26 – Lula Lounge, Toronto ON
Sep 27 – Parc de la Petite Italie @ Pop Montreal, Montreal QC
Sep 27 – Casa del Popol @ Pop Montreal, Montreal QC
Sep 28 – The Oak and the Ax, Biddeford ME
Oct 02 – Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia PA
Oct 04 – Arab American National Museum, Dearborn MI
Oct 06 – The Belmore / New Skyway, Minneapolis MN
Oct 08 – Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA
Oct 09 – The Goodfoot, Portland OR
Oct 11 – Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco CA
Oct 13 – Joshua Tree Music Festival, Joshua Tree CA
