Les Filles De Illighadad - Live at Le Guess Who? 2016

Fatou Seidi Ghali and Alamnou Akrouni reside in the tiny village of Illighadad, Niger. Fatou plays the tende, and an old blue guitar, slightly bent because of the extreme weather. She is one of only two Tuareg female guitarists. Together with her cousin, vocalist Alamnou Akrouni, they strip Tuareg music from all progressive leanings, right back to its bare essence.

Various Western African artists have expanded the Tuareg-blues movement on a global scale, but rarely have these soul-purging sounds resonated so candidly and emotively. This is communal music poured straight from the heart, performed to comfort the sick, to entertain the people and to blend in with the radiant ambience of the environment. Les Filles de Illighadad played a total of three times at Le Guess Who?, marking the first time Fatou and Alamnou toured outside of their homeland.

Recorded by Marc Broer at Le Guess Who? on 12 November 2016 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Recordings made in cooperation with VPRO / Vrije Geluiden.

Photography by Melanie Marsman and Tim van Veen.