The 25th anniversary Afro Roots Fest is a multi-city, months-long musical heritage festival winding its way from Gainesville to Jupiter, through Doral, Miami and Miami Beach, and reaching down into Islamorada and Key West. Through late May, bands representing several African countries and Afro-Cuban traditions — from indigenous folkloric to futurist, jazz, punk, and pop — are showcasing unique musical styles and stories.
Mdou Moctar, coming to the Miami Beach Bandshell on May 3 (in a co-presentation with Miami Beach’s Rhythm Foundation), have one of the more distinct origin stories to go with their entrancing, band-powered syncopations. Singer-guitarist-frontman Mahamadou Souleymane, aka Mdou Moctar, was raised in desert regions in Niger with deep traditions from the Tuareg people, a Berber ethnic group known for silver and glass arts, various dialects, and a historically nomadic lifestyle.
Moctar sings mostly in his native Tuareg language Tamasheq, with touches of English and French. His songs are about love, power and the scars left by imperialism. From the band’s 2021 album “Afrique Victime,” a line from the opening track translates to, “If we stay silent, it will be the end of us.” The “it” being systemic forms of slavery and exploitation that Moctar — a veteran touring artist who resettled in Niger during the COVID pandemic — sees from both a local and global perspective.
Raised in a traditional, religious household that disapproved of electric music, Moctar nevertheless fell hard for Tuareg “desert blues” music and made himself a rudimentary guitar with bike brake cables for strings. Eventually gaining success, his music, like most new sounds in West Africa at the time, traveled from person-to-person by cell phone, from memory cards and air drops.
American listeners caught on thanks to Portland label Sahel Sounds’ 2011 compilation, “Music from Saharan Cellphones,” that featured Mdou Moctar’s track “Tahoultine.” The song’s chorus (translated), “Beauty is not enough/You must accompany it with a good heart,” is an ever-present theme in their music. And the heart-tugging twang of Moctar’s guitar playing feels both ancient and radical.
Afro Roots Fest 2023, March 14-May 21, presents Mdou Moctar, 7pm Wednesday May 3 at Miami Beach Bandshell. miamibeachbandshell.com, afrorootsfest.com ~ Carly Cassano
