Kel-Tinariwen (1992)

"Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band’s already rich history. In the summer of 1991, four members of Tinariwen travelled to Abidjan in Ivory Coast to record the band’s first official release, Kel Tinariwen. They were Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Hassan Ag Touhami aka ‘Abin Abin’, Kedou Ag Ossad and Liya Ag Ablil aka ‘Diarra’. The project was the brainchild of Keltoum Sennhauser, who grew up partly in Bamako, partly in the Kidal region of north-eastern Mali. Keltoum became deeply involved in the Touareg struggle for freedom and self-determination and saw music in general and music of Tinariwen in particular as an essential part of that struggle. Kel Tinariwen was never heard outside of the local community that traded cassettes back in 1991 – an activity that was important to the movement, as Keltoum explains: “I think the cassette played crucial role as a tool of communication". (monorailmusic.com)|