Tal National is from Niamey, the capital city of Niger, Africa. Their music is joyously hypnotic, a highly unique contribution to West African guitar music. With its lightning fast rhythms and rotating cast of vocalists, one can hear in their music the history of Niger as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. The sounds of the Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, which comprised the former French colony, are all represented by Tal National’s members. The rolling 12/8 rhythms in the Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the pensive quality of the Tuareg’s blues-influenced music, and the exquisite “griot guitar” of Mali’s Songhai, are delivered with virtuoso precision and unrelenting energy, with an intensity that has led to this sound being dubbed African Rock ‘n Roll. Tickets at harrisonfestival.com