Steve Shehan, essential composer and percussionist, member of the Hadouk Trio, signs here a new challenge: AWALIN, (my promise), an album born from his encounter with the Tuareg musician Nabil Othmani, son of late great poet of the desert, Baly Othmani. "Awalin" symbolizes the evidence of a continuation, a relay, of the trust of a father reiterated by his son in respect and friendship. Steve Shehan gave his word, his promise, during his last trip to Djanet as he did throughout his years of collaboration with Nabil¹s father. The commitment, the pleasure to continue innovating enable to convey Tuareg culture and oral collective memory, nowadays very compromised by the invasive presence of television. It was a new challenge to highlight the "word", Tuareg poetry by incorporating Nabil Othman¹s and Steve Shehan¹s creativity together with the taste and vitality of this new generation. Banjo, pedal steel guitar, dobro, classical guitar, duduk, angklung, hang, futujara, hu-lu-si, kaval, dumdum, berimbau, strings, tar, saz, Kamantche, piano, mingle with the sound of the lute and folk guitar, and with a new more African flair that Nabil offers with his sweet and clear voice.
Steve Shehan expresses once again his love of Tuareg music by surrounding himself with modern, electronic, shamanic, Berber, Brazilian, Middle Eastern, Cuban, and especially African movements, bringing together Tuareg culture and the generous universality of music. He is also surrounded by prestigious guests such as Vladiswar Nadishana, Ibrahim Maalouf, Didier Malherbe, Claude Samard, Nono Belkrief, who, beyond their friendship, bring a unique and original flavor.
