Mississippi To Sahara

Faris Amine grew up playing American blues before discovering his mother's Touareg roots. He takes Delta Blues from Son House, Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell and others back to North Africa, translating or writing new words in Tamasheq and the result is compelling music. Delta Blues reconnected to Africa, reinvented as Assouf or what has come to be known as Desert Blues."Oulhawen Win Tidit" is a standout track. Based on "Death Letter" by Son House, Faris wrote Tamasheq lyrics and the result is a spine-chilling tune. Muddy Waters' "Feel Like Going Home" appears as "Oulh Essyaq" and to my ears it eerily captures the feelings common to the Tuaregs forced out of native lands by war and to people forced out of Africa by the slave trade.I love the Weissenborn style guitar made by Herrmann Guitars pictured on the cover. It is easier for me to imagine Touareg music played around a campfire in the Sahara on a Weissenborn than on an electric guitar (where do they get the juice?). That said, most of the album still has the characteristic electric snarl of Desert Blues that seduced people like Robert Plant.Very cool CD with terrific liner notes. Getting regularly airplay on Diaspora here at WORT-FM.

Awesome album. Explores the roots of American blues in West African music thru 10 notable selections like The Soul of a Man, Jesus is on the Mainline, and Hard Times Killing Floor Blues, for example. These respectively are Ma Ihan Iman Nagadem, Aghregh Yallah, and Alwaq Semman. The West African tune is played first along with any lyrics that have survived and then the American tune with accompanying lyrics. Only two of the ten are considered traditional. Others are credited to Muddy Waters, Son House, Fred McDowell, Blind Willie Johnson, and other less well-known names in the genre. This album has received regular airplay on my show on WMFO and we have added it to our automation library.

The weissenborn has deep resonant tones and depth which Faris uses to full effect. He has very strongly emotive singing, sometimes in syncopation to the instrument. His lead runs are fluid and golden and he often plays rhythm and lead runs simultaneously (like JLH or Miss. Fred McD). Most of his rhythms are at a camels gait - that Saharan timing no one else really does: rolling with a light swing; slow enough for the heat of his place but the embellishments add complexity and polyrhythms. He makes beautiful transitions from the blues classics he renders to the 'assouf' versions he morphs to. He plays evocative landscapes of sound behind his singing then gives transportative solos. Excellent notes on the inner sleeve and clear, clean vinyl of ok weight. Excellent sound quality.

This is fantastic 'desert-blues' (for want of a better term!!!) meets 'delta-blues' , by a talented musician with Italian & North African parents who 'discovered' his love of music in both Africa & Mississippi!!! My FAVOURITE album of the last 5 years.

Excellent album by Tuareg/Italian musician Faris d'Amine - a multi-instrumentalist, multi-linguist - whose recordings aren't all that easy to find these days. From the liner notes, quote: "Desert Blues was a term created by music journalists back in the 90s to describe the music of Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, and others. But American blues really does have its roots in West Africa, particularly the Sahel and Sahara regions. Amongst the originators of the blues are the Kel Tamasheq or Tuareg people. On this album, Faris brings 10 rural delta blues songs back home to Africa, revisiting them in the guitar style known as 'assouf' and showing how close the souls of these two worlds are to each other." You can find a series of clips from the Mississippi to Sahara album, with songs by Son House, Muddy Waters, Blind Willie Johnson, Skip James and others, on YouTube.

Eine für mich neue, interessante Klangwelt. Hab sie nach einer Rezensions-Empfehlung "auf Verdacht" gekauft und ertappe mich dabei, sie immer wieder aufzulegen, wenn ich eine "angenehme" Klangumgebung haben möchte.

Nice addition to my collection

Very good