I walked down the hallway to get a glimpse of Bombino and I see a clearly stressed Ariana Morgenstern (MBE producer) on the phone, leaving a message for Ghanaian musician Rocky Dawuni, a friend of the station.
It appears the Bombino camp did not bring a translator, so if we wanted to talk to him, we needed to find someone who speaks French.
Even better, Rocky was available and he speaks Hausa – one of Africa’s largest spoken languages. His tour manager said he’d never seen Bombino do an interview in that dialect before and the acclaimed Tuareg guitarist gave us another first as well – he played a brand new song, “Tiguitewen Oddanes”.
Aside from a powerful set of music, Bombino shared his thoughts on Nashville and producer Dan Auerbach’s guitar collection and more during the interview.
Bombino Live on KCRW Set List
Ahulkaline Hula
Tamiditine
Tiguitewen Oddanes
Si Chilan
Editor’s Note: See Rocky live on August 24 at Levitt Pavilion in Macarthur Park as part of KCRW’s Summer Nights.