Ahmed Ag Kaedy

Ahmed Ag Kaedy’s enchanting guitar licks fuse blues and rock seamlessly with the traditional “assouf” of his homeland. The double drums and keyboards create a polyphonic sound that is with intense bass lines, fiery saxophone explosions, and electronic thunderclouds. The listener is taken on an acoustic roller coaster, whose navigational elements are set to the most the most distant constellations, with the eruptive drumming of Mahalmadane Traoré serves as rocket fuel.

The hooting and whistling of the audience, which emerges from time to time is a faithful reflection of the electrifying atmosphere that permeates each of the performances.

Ahmed Ag Kaedy, who is featured in the documentary film “Mali Blues” founded the band Amanar de Kidal in 2005 (two releases on Sahel Sounds) and worked with Fatoumata Diawara and Samba Touré. The city of Kidal in northeastern Mali has for decades, despite its small size and relative isolation, been the hub for insurgencies by Kel Tamasheq rebel uprisings against the Malian government.

(The Kel Tamasheq do not refer to themselves as “Tuareg,” as they have been given this name to them by their Arabic-speaking neighbors and they are “those abandoned by God.”) Ahmed Ag Kaedy’s texts emphasize the the importance of education and development in a region that is mired in warlike conflict.

When the extremists took over his hometown, the suppression of culture and music was one of the main focuses of their agenda.

After being threatened with having his fingers cut off if he ever dared to play the guitar again, Ahmed Ag Kaedy decided to flee to Bamako, where he still lives today.