Hutton Honors College

Lunch with West African Band Etran Finatawa

Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 * 12:30-2 p.m. * Harlos House, 1331 E. Tenth St. * SIGN-UP REQUIRED

Don't miss this special opportunity to talk with and hear the music of Etran Finatawa ("the stars of tradition"). The band members come from the nomadic and pastoral Tuareg and Wodaabe-Fulani cultures of Niger, an ethnically diverse and very poor country, and were first drawn together to promote peace and reconciliation through their music. The country "sits at a desert crossroads between the Berber and Arab cultures of the North and the many sub-Saharan cultures of the South." The band gives "a modern interpretation to ancient traditions, using "bluesy electric guitars, traditional instruments, and the polyphonic songs of the Wodaabe people" to create "a powerful and hypnotic sound and a new musical style of Nomad Blues."

Etran Finatawa is in Bloomington for the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, which runs Oct. 2-5. The lunch is co-sponsored by the Wells Scholars Program.

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