Alkibar Gignor (pronounced JIN-YOR) is a garage rock band from Mali. Their name refers to their origin as the apprentices and "juniors" of AFEL BOCOUM's band Alkibar. But Alkibar Gignor is Junior no more. Earning status of Niafounke's TOWN BAND, they are holding it down on their own. In heavy demand around TIMBOUCTOU, their homemade songs are the new hits!

Alkibar Gignor formed in 2003, but their first break came three years later -- opening for the festival of the late ALI FARKA TOURE, Amma recalls: "We weren't scheduled to play, and when we showed up with our instruments, the organizers shook their heads and laughed. They told us we're crazy to think we could play." But play they did! "We played our "Hommage to Ali Farka," and the town loved it. Everybody cried, even the marabout couldn't believe it!"

Their "Hommage" is now a LOCAL ANTHEM. Loading their battered hand-me-down material onto donkey carts -- guitars, drum kit, amplifiers, speakers and generators -- Alkibar Gignor regularly tours throughout the farming villages that lie OFF THE GRID, with their trademark electrified sound under the star-filled skies. "If it's harvest time," Amma explains, "they pay us in sacks of rice." Recently winning a competition for Bavaria Beverage as "Best band in the Circle of Timbouctou," they've caught the eye of the capital, BAMAKO, and every year play the "Night of Niafounke", bringing the sound of the sahelian desert to the big city.

The band's rocking style is the new sound of Niafounke. But they wonder whether the West wants Malian music besides tried and true acoustic guitar with calabash. Is the world ready? Only time will tell -- but the new generation is HERE!

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Order the official vinyl release here:
littleaxerecords.com

For more info, see sahelsounds:
www.sahelsounds.com

As standard, pay as you like option -- 60% of the proceeds go to the artists.