One of the premier purveyors of the Afro-beat counterpoint and ballad sound in the new world, Tartit (meaning union) hail from the Tombouctou region of Mali. They comprise five women and four men, all members of the Tamasheq ethnic group known as Tuareg. They met in a refugee camp in Burkina Faso, where their music was a means of survival in the face of the economic, social, and political strife of the region. In 1995 Tartit performed their first concert in Abidjan, Côte D'Ivoire, and played the Festival of Women's Voices in Liege, Belgium. Touring Europe in 1998 and North Ame...