Noura Mint Seymali is a

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.

Early life

Noura Mint Seymali was born in Mauritania to parents Dimi Mint Abba and Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall. Both parents were important musical figures in Mauritania. Her father, Seymali, is a Moorish composer who adapted Mauritania's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

. Her step-mother, Dimi, was one of her country's most famous singers, and was known as the "diva of the desert". At the age of 13, Noura began composing for her mother, as well as touring with her as a backup singer. Through the musical members of her family, she was able to master the ardin, a nine-stringed harp reserved for women, as well as getting her feet wet in the world of performances. Following her marriage to her guitarist, Jeiche Ould Chighaly, Noura began playing weddings with him. With the help of her husband, they formed their first band in 2004. After the local release of two albums, they then returned to the studio to create the band's first full-length album, Tzenni. The album was released in 2014 via Glitterbeat Records. The band continues to play at music festivals around the world. Noura is trained in playing the ardin, the traditional Mauritanian instrument for female

s. She considers herself and her music to be non-political in nature. In 2018, Noura hosted the Malian

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

band

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq: , with vowels , pronounced ''tinariwen'' "deserts", plural of ''ténéré'' "desert") is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Considered a pioneer of desert blues, the group's guita ...

during their travels in Mauritania, and appeared on their 2019 album ''

Amadjar ''Amadjar'' is the eighth album by the Tuareg band Tinariwen, released in 2019. The album's title means "the foreign traveler" in the Tamashek language. The album features guest appearances by Noura Mint Seymali, Micah Nelson, Cass McCombs, Steph ...

''.

Band history

Noura Mint Seymali has performed in many places around the world since their band formation in 2004. Some of the famous festivals that they've performed at are globalFEST located in the United States,

Festival au Désert The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) was an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world between 2001 and 2012. It was founded and directed by Manny Ansar, and attracted thousand ...

located in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

, and Hayy Festival located in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Noura Mint Seymali's combination of different genres of Moorish music with pop music has given them a large platform of audiences. Her band includes Jeiche Ould Chighaly on guitar and

tidinit Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa with 1-5 strings. The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and ...

, Ousmane Tour on bass, Matthew Tinari on drums, Ayniyana Chighaly on backing vocals and ardin, and Mayassa Hemed Vall on backing vocals and percussion.

Discography

* ''Tarabe'' (2006) * ''El Howl'' (2010) * ''Azawan'' (2012) (EP) * ''Azawan II'' (2013) (EP) * ''Tzenni'' (2014) * ''Arbina'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymali, Noura Mint Mauritanian songwriters Living people Griots Mauritanian women singers Year of birth missing (living people)