TALsounds ▲ Mdou Moctar ▲ DJ Matt Jencik [Reckless]

9PM // $16 (advance), $18 // 21+ // Facebook Event

Mdou Moctar Music for desert picnics. Tuareg guitarist MDOU MOCTAR delves into his more sensitive side with a minimal studio recording of dreamy ballads. Thumping calabash, droning guitars, and vocal overdubs evoke an imagined desert soundscape. All instruments and vocals performed by MDOU only, creating a very personal and auteur sessions. Emotive and introspective, exploring themes of religion, spirituality, and matters of the heart.

After his underground success on the pirate mp3 networks of West Africa with his first release, the psychedelic autotuned “Anar,” (2008) he was featured on the Sahel Sounds compilation “Music from Saharan Cellphones” (2011) and launched a successful touring career. In 2012, MDOU relocated from his village to Agadez, the center of Niger’s guitar scene, and formed his band. Over the past years, he has become well known on the international circuit, playing high energy electrified music in festivals and clubs across Europe and North America. In 2013, he released his first international album, “Afelan,” rocking and raw sessions recorded live in Niger. In 2015, he starred in the first ever Tuareg language film, “Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red In It,” a Nigerien remake of “Purple Rain.”

NATALIE CHAMI is the artist behind the musical moniker TALSOUNDS celebrated the release of her LP Love Sick on this very stage over a year ago (May 2017) and we're beyond excited to have her open it up tonight. When Natalie isn't focused on her solo work, she spends time ripping in local experimental trio GOOD WILLSMITH and teaching music at the inimitable Chicago High School of the Arts. Come learn something for once, will ya?

Renowned solo musician MATT JENCIK, who doubles as a manager of Reckless Records, bring his finest wax to keep us movin' & groovin' throughout the night.