I saw the great Khaira Arby last night. In little Club Balattou in Montreal, with its mirror mosaics and dark purple neon, she lit the place up. Dressed up in a big red dress, she wore a headpiece that started flat along the top of her head and then swooped up towards the sky, adorned in gold circles. And as she sung with smiling power in Sonrhai, Tamashek, Bambara, and Arabic, and her band changed time and broke laughing and shredded the shit out of their guitars, Khaira Arby would lean forward singing and the gold circles would shine bright gold light.
From the back of the CD, in reference to "Tarab":
Our homeland! If we work together we can build our nation. Patience my brothers! Nobility and progress only come from work. Like that great Mauritanian warrior of long ago, Gawad, who though mortally wounded in battle, ignored his wounds and kept on fighting until victory, may God help us work together for our future.
Posted by Dan at October 1, 2010 2:02 PM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
