I dream of going to Mali, and visiting Timbuktu to hear the music there. But until the jihadists are finally driven out, that's not going to happen. :( I have a

I dream of going to Mali, and visiting Timbuktu to hear the music there. But until the jihadists are finally driven out, that's not going to happen. :( I have a friend in the State Department who also loves desert music, and she says northern Mali is an absolute no-go zone for Western tourists - like they won't even come rescue you. There's a really great documentary from a couple of years ago called They Will Have to Kill Us First, which you would probably love. It's about musicians from northern Mali living as refugees from the civil war, and how the jihadists have treated musicians. Also, keep an eye out for a band called Songhoy Blues, if they're ever in your area. They're in the documentary. They're Songhoy, not Tuareg (different ethnicity), and the band formed in the refugee camps with guys from different towns who never would have met otherwise. They tour a lot, and they're a lot closer to American/British rock and roll than most Tuareg music. I took my spouse to see them (I've seen them twice), and she said seeing their singer live was what it must have been like to see a young Mick Jagger. He's that good.