“Hendrix from Niger”, not sure who was responsible, but the similarities are striking. Young black men, lefty virtuosos on electric guitar. Seattle is a hemisphere away from Niger, and so is the music. This will be the third or fourth time seeing Mdou, but the first in a solo setting. A few years before the pandemic, Moctar’s record label, Sahel Sounds, arranged a US tour of hipster locations. The crowds were sparse, but the buzz was palpable. Dressed in the Bedouin robes and headgear, the group spun a delicious elixir of psychedelic desert trance drone. The focal point was Mdou’s spider like fretwork. Because no one in the group spoke any English, a label exec explained the back story. Turns out that secular music was a no-no in Mdou’s religion, forcing him to make his own guitar and practice in private. Fast forward to 2026, Mdou plays solo to a packed Spaceland and even regales the crowd with some stories. The music is exotic with beautiful call and response passages. Mdou sings in his native tongue, but has the New England crowd swaying as if they understand. Because he played while seated, it was difficult to see the master at work. The dizzying sounds were hard to parse as coming from one set of hands. After the encore, Mdou explains that the proceeds from merch and touring are funneled back to his impoverished homeland in an effort to build schools, dig wells and move his country forward. Glad to be a witness to the evolution of this amazing artist.
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