Great music from Mali, and much sadness

[bae]

Just last week I happened to hear a song by Tinariwen, a group of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Amazingly good stuff, and I'd been spending this week exploring their music, and other music from their region and culture. They are well worth checking out, and first I thought I'd pass along the pointer to their work.

But this article came across my desk this morning from a musician friend of mine, when I was asking her for some more ideas to check out, and now I am sad:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-northern-mali-music-silenced-as-islamists-drive-out-artists/2012/11/30/110ea016-300c-11e2-af17-67abba0676e2_story.html

The musical culture of Mali is being stamped out by violence.

I am sick at heart.

[Mrs-M]

Similar to the group you posted about, I listened to an excellent radio program a few weeks ago, where an African musical group was being forced to halt their music, and all other forms of music was being quashed by violence.

I found this (http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2012/7/-Next-Ambiance-co-founder-Jon-Kertzers-top-African-concert-discoveries) program for you, Bae, and though it's not related to the program I mentioned, I think you'll really like what you hear.

Additionally, I caught another program (on radio) where a woman had taken on the job as curator, to a vast and rare collection of African music. She mentioned that some of the recordings had been lost to dampness and poor storage conditions (essentially an underground cave), however, she, along with a few of the people she works with, managed to save a majority of the original content, thus making for the most extensive and comprehensive collection the world over.

[CathyA]

How sad. So much is being destroyed by Islamic extremists. Very sad indeed.

[JaneV2.0]

How sad. So much is being destroyed by Islamic extremists. Very sad indeed.

It's not just Islamic religious extremists. In Uganda, there's been ongoing persecution of gays, led by self-identified Christians, up to and including lifelong imprisonment and a threat of execution--with the encouragement of American politicians. Not what Jesus had in mind, I'm pretty sure.
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/07/christian_right_leader_lauds_homophobic_ugandan_di ctator/

Religious fanaticism is a deadly scourge

[Square Peg]

https://soundcloud.com/snapjudgment/the-afghanistan-homecoming-snap
This is a story about an Afghan-American who is trying to record the traditional songs while they still can. Musicians had to bury their instruments after the Taliban came to power.