Get ready for blues with some sand in its grooves. The Nigerien Sahara blues guitarist Omara Moctor, better known as Bombino, is back at BIRD! Bombino is part of a generation of Tuareg musicians that offers a dissenting opinion regarding the political unrest prevalent in Northwest Africa. In Bombino’s case, he does so with his guitar, an instrument he first picked up as a political refugee of just ten years old.

From refugee to virtuoso

Bombino discovered the guitar in the abandoned home of a relative in Algeria, when hew fled from the military regime in Niger with his father and grandmother. He taught himself to play guitar, and he was so good at this, guitar legend Haja Bebe took him under his wing and started teaching him. Eventually, Bebe even asked the teenager to play in his band. The name Bombino originated in this period as well, it’s a corruption of the word ‘bambino’: little boy. That little boy quickly grew out of the watchful eyes of Haja Bebe, and he switched to teachers like Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler… via the TV. But the leaps Bombino made with his guitar-playing were not diminished by this fact. When his first solo record, Agadez, was released in 2011, he was an accomplished and professional musician.

Azel

Agadez debuted in the higher regions of the iTunes World Chart. But Nomad, released in 2013 and produced by Dan ‘The Black Keys’ Auerbach, was a massive success as well. Nomad’s catchy tunes arrived at number one of the Billboard World Music Charts, and was featured in multiple Best Albums of 2013 lists, including those of Rolling Stone and the Wall Street Journal. This year, Azel, recorded in New York, joined his discography. The record continues to build on the success formula of blues, rock, indie, psychedelic vibes and hypnotising sounds, and Bombino sings about being Nigerien in his mother tongue. According to experts, Bombino is at his best live, improvising and chatting with his audience.

This concert is part of the Rotterdam popweek.