CQAF 2025

Formed in 1979 on the borders of Mali and Algeria, Tinariwen are world renowned as pioneers of the assouf style (“nostalgia” in tamashek). They address Tuareg people’s preoccupations in songs that mix traditional West African and Arab music with blues, folk and other influences.

Tinariwen singlehandedly invented a guitar style that has captured the world’s imagination. They call it ishumar or assouf. The rest of the planet has come to know it as the Tuareg blues. Its music that is imbued with sorrow and longing but it’s also music for forgetting our cares and for dancing. Far more than just a rock band, Tinariwen are ambassadors for their people and a way of life in tune with the natural world that is under threat as never before. Their message has never sounded more urgent and compelling than it does now.

Since gaining international recognition in the early 2000s, they have played more than 1100 shows around the world and released nine studio albums, three of them nominated for a Grammy, including Tassili, which won the award for Best World Music album in 2012.

“To say their music is captivating is underplaying it massively; it pulls you in and takes you on a desert journey, the lilting blues trance and the interplay between guitars and bass, percussion and vocals all creating a sensuous and pleasingly hazy mood.” – Louder Than War