Tinariwen will feel right at home in the unusually balmy Southeast Ohio when it comes to bring the sounds of its country to Stuart’s Opera House Thursday.
The 2012 Grammy winner in Best World Album for “Tassili” is a group of Toureg musicians from the deserts of Northern Mali. The band’s work — from its name Tinariwen, which means “desert” in homage to the band’s environment — is centered around the unique issues and challenges that the members faced in their homeland.
“Music is one of the best ways a culture expresses itself and tells their story and for a group like Tinariwen to be in Athens County all the way from Mali is something special,” said Brian Koscho, marketing and promotions coordinator at Stuart’s.
Stuart’s worked with Arts for Ohio, Ohio University for Performing Arts and OU African Studies to bring Tinariwen to the area.
This is not the first time Stuart’s has collaborated with the Performing Arts Center. Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, said Tinariwen is the latest in a series of interesting musical events the two have done together.
“This is an amazing opportunity for Athens and the OU community to watch Grammy award-winning musicians in the intimate setting of the Stuart’s Opera House,” Holzaephel said.
Tinariwen draws inspiration for its “desert blues” from West Africa, Mali, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. The group’s music began, according to the band’s biography, in rebellious, hard-hitting tunes, but it abandoned that for “Tassili” —“giving pride of place to acoustic sounds, recorded right in the heart of the desert, which is the landscape of their existence, the cradle of their culture and the source of their inspiration.”
So far 335 presale tickets have been sold for the venue. Koscho is optimistic about the crowd on Thursday.
“We've always had a great reaction and reception by crowds to African music and honestly to amazing musicians from any part of the world,” Koscho said. “As musicians, their songs are entrancing and beautiful and I think the audience will be in for an amazing evening of music.”
There are also a limited amount of free Arts for Ohio tickets, which students can reserve prior to the show.
eb104010@ohiou.edu
What: Performing Arts Series: Tinariwen
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Sq.
Admission: Limited free student tickets through Arts for Ohio; Gen. admission: $20 advance, $25 door; Box: $30 advance, $35 door.
