Mdou Moctar in San Jose

Mdou Moctar is a Nigerien Tuareg guitarist, singer and songwriter whose band plays tishoumaren, the electric guitar music often called desert blues, with psychedelic rock intensity. His best-known records include Ilana (The Creator), Afrique Victime and Funeral for Justice. He also starred in Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, a Tamasheq-language film inspired by Purple Rain. A 2015 NPR Tiny Desk Concert documented Mdou Moctar during the early years of his international touring. By the Afrique Victime period, the electric band was performing at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, followed later by an appearance at Glastonbury Festival. The concert format is a four-piece electric band built around Mdou Moctar’s lead guitar and Tamasheq vocals. Rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, bassist Mikey Coltun and drummer Souleymane Ibrahim supply the interlocking guitar lines and fast rhythmic foundation heard on the group’s records.