After lunch and the cooking class, we went to a nearby house where several Black men performed percussive traditional music. The group was called “Les Pigeons du Sable”—the Pigeons of the Desert. They shared about their heritage, drawing both from central and west African traditions as well as Moroccan influences. They had a djembe and a couple other drums that looked kind of like taiko drums, very loud clackers (they called them castanets, but they weren’t at all like what I think of), and a three-stringed instrument that looked like a cross between a banjo and a bass guitar (the musician played it amped). They did some dancing and singing as well as instrumental pieces, and, at one point, an older man got several of us into a circle dance.
The music had some elements I recognized from Swahili and Zulu music, and some Arab components. I wish I knew enough about music to describe it in better detail.
The people there shared that the popularity of this group’s music has led to tremendous improvements in the village’s economy. The arts—as I always say—are a vital economic driver. In this case, these men and their drums are calling people from all over the world to this tiny village on the edge of the Sahara.
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