Recorded in 2006 in the Bogolan studio, in Bamako, under the supervision of producer and guitarist Justin Adams (Robert Plant, Juju, Lo’jo…), Aman Iman (“water is life”), the third album of Tamasheq rock band Tinariwen, is a classic. It immediately takes the listener to the rocky desert of the Adrar des Ifoghas, straddling the North of Mali and the South of Algeria, a territory in which they guide you at camels’ pace and where poetry hides in every dry bush, behind every stone. They let it flourish in their mouth and between their hands, where guitars vibrate, successively jittery or meditative. The Tuareg people’s quest is poetic and contemplative, the nostalgia and frustrations caused by their vagrancy inhabit them and their chants transcend them. When Aman Iman was released, Tinariwen had already started their conquest over the international music scene, and their formation was in its best possible configuration. The four singers, guitarists and composers Ibrahim, Abdallah, Alhassane and “Japonais”, a founding member who never joined the band on tour, supported by five female choristers, two rhythmic guitarists, percussionist Saïd and powerful bassist Eyadou, whom Youssou N’Dour tried to recruit away from his own band at the time. On several tracks, this already powerful guitar orchestra is reinforced by the six strings of Justin Adams and Salah Dawson Miller. Quintessence of Tuareg music, Aman Iman features some of the band’s most beautiful songs: Cler Achel, Mano Dayak, Soixante Trois, and Izarharh Tenere. © Benjamin MiNiMuM / Qobuz