ETRAN DE L'AÏR
ETRAN DE L'AÏR
Friday, September 20
Etran de L’Aïr at the Williamsburg Grange Hall
w/ Harman-Haughey Cello Project + DJ SHAKI
doors 7PM
TRANSCENDENT GUITAR JAMS FROM AGADEZ
Etran de L’Aïr (or “stars of the Aïr region”) welcomes you to Agadez, the capital city of Saharan rock.
From the now famous music scene in Niger’s desert capital city (think Bombino or Mdou Moctar) comes a family band that has been playing the wedding circuit for over 25 years. Their hypnotic riffs and raucous, sun-schlazed melodies are pan-African party music , rooted in celebration and layered with the cultural diversity of Niger’s many tribes.
Whereas other Tuareg guitarists look to Western rock, Etran de L’Aïr play the cultural influences of their hometown: from Northern Malian blues, Hausa bar bands, to Congolese Soukous. It’s perhaps this quality that makes them so beloved in Agadez.
“We play for the Tuareg, the Toubou, the Zarma, the Hausa,” band leader Moussa “Abindi” Ibra explains. “When you invite us, we come and play.”
Their music is rooted in celebration, and invokes the exuberance of an Agadez wedding, with an overwhelming abundance of guitars, as simultaneous solos playfully pass over one another with a restrained precision, forceful yet never overindulgent.
Etran is a family band composed of brothers and cousins, all born and raised in the small neighborhood of Abalane, just in the shadow of the grand mosque. The band was formed in 1995 when current band leader Moussa “Abindi” Ibra was only 9 years old.
“We only had one acoustic guitar,” he explains, “and for percussion, we hit a calabash with a sandal.” Over the decades, the band painstakingly pieced together gear to form their band and built an audience by playing everywhere, for everyone.
“It was difficult. We would walk to gigs by foot, lugging all our equipment, carrying a small PA and guitars on our backs, 25 kilometers into the bush, to play for free…there’s nowhere in Agadez we haven’t played.”
In the city of Agadez, in fact, Tuareg guitar music is everywhere. It’s an integral part of the social fabric — played in weddings, baptisms, political rallies, and yes, occasionally concerts. It’s fast and frenetic, filled with the staccato crash of full drum kits, spontaneous clapping jams, and a pentatonic boogie that gets everyone jumping and dancing.
It’s always a special time at the Williamsburg Grange Hall — a magical old building that has been stewarded for generations within the hilltown community.
The Harman/Haughey Cello Project starts us off. They explore dreamy, groove-based musical landscapes using their cellos and generous helpings of reverb and delay, creating expansive sonic vibrations to elevate and appreciate. Jeremy Harman and Dave Haughey, both Valley natives, have shared the stage with artists such as Lady Gaga, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, and Paul Winter.
DJ Shaki selects vinyl before, between and after sets. Perhaps best known for his role as bass player in the psychedelic groups Mountain Movers and Headroom, Rick “Shaki” Omonte has also released the compilation album “Puro Tayta Shanti”. An extensive deep dive into old Peruvian folk music, it was compiled, researched, and licensed solely by Shaki. Every month you can catch him on-air at WPKN 89.5fm, broadcasting global grooves from Bridgeport, CT and reaching the far corners of this world.
