From Timbuktu Mali AL BILALI SOUDAN are members of an extended family of craftsmen who for generations have been sought after musicians and griots. The band is a torch-bearer of a quintessentially Tamasheq music shaped by continuous interplay between tehardent and hand percussion. Abellou and his uncle Abou are masters of the genre. Accompanied by their sons and cousins they bring youth and energy to the music. Lightning fast, sometimes looping, this is intense mastery of a traditional repertoire is improvised and adapted into the 21st century. Their work represents cultural preservation renewed. The music retains a similar intensity and urgency while remaining loose and dreamlike. Melodic phrases spiral around and on top of each other while shouts of ecstatic joy and proddings are peppered amid the more traditional praises.