Wednesday, October 4, 2017 - 7:30pm - 11:00pm
A movie screening of Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It) followed by a live performance from Mdou Moctar.
Mdou Moctar:
An exhilarating desert blues singer/songwriter who pushes the boundaries of the genre, Mdou Moctar and his trio have shaped an unconventional style that has won them worldwide accolades. The evening opens with a screening of the now cult film Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, a Saharan homage to Prince’s Purple Rain. Starring Moctar (with purple guitar strapped to his back as he rides through the desert on his motorcycle), the movie is a testament to Prince’s global influence and the universal nature of a vanguard musician fighting for his place in the sun.
“Moctar is a miraculous Tuareg guitarist and singer from Niger, a master of hypnotic Saharan electro-drone blues… fresh and vital guitar music unique to this millennium.” —Village Voice
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It):
"In 1984, Prince was on top of the world, with a No. 1 album and later a No. 1 movie, both named Purple Rain.
Little did Prince know then how widely his projects' influence would spread, or the ways in which they might translate — literally. Three decades after the film first premiered, it got a remake filmed in Niger, featuring members of a nomadic group of people known as the Tuareg.
It's called Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai — which translates to "Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It." That's because there's no word for "purple" in Tamajeq, the language spoken by the Tuareg." — NPR