The Sultan of Shred - Bombino

Regardless of what language you speak, music transcends geographies and Bombino’s epic guitar shredding is a language I think all of us can appreciate.

This week’s podcast is the first ever bilingual episode with The Sultan of Shred. Bombino (born Goumour Almoctar, also known as Oumara Moctar) came of age during a time of significant political upheaval and fled with his family to Algeria after living in the nomadic Tuareg encampment Tidene, just outside Agadez, Niger.

Bombino taught himself guitar by watching videos of his heroes like Jimi Hendrix. After years of honing his skills back home and spending time as a shepherd in Libya, he first left Africa and traveled to California in 2006 as lead soloist on tour with Tidawt.

During his trip to California, he had the chance to record a desert blues version of the Rolling Stones classic “Hey Negrita” alongside Stones’ members Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. 

He has released a highly acclaimed studio album, Deran, including one rave reviews from in the form of a full page feature in the New York Times which dubbed Bombino ‘The Sultan of Shred’ 

Deran was nominated for Best World Music Album Grammy, the first-ever Grammy nomination for an artist from Niger.

His latest album, 'Live In Amsterdam' was was released in November 2020. 

Bombino held the center stage at Worldfest and it was an honor to sit down with him to discuss his life, travels and musical inspirations. 

He is an advocate for teaching children the Tuareg language of Tamasheq, the local Haoussa language as well as French and Arabic, all of which he speaks fluently. Sadly, I am not fluent in any of these four languages so you will us sit alongside one another while we share stories via the assistance of a French translator. 

It is a pleasure to show you another side of The Sultan of Shred: Bombino.

http://www.bombinomusic.com/

https://worldfest.net/

 

Also in this episode, you can join along in the experience through video on my YouTube channel @neuronstonirvanapodcast

 

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