Khaira Arby is a Malian singer from Tombouctou, Mali, associated with desert blues and broader Malian musical traditions. Born in 1959 and active until her death in 2018, she sings in Songhai, Arabic, Tamashek and Bambara.

Early life and beginnings

Arby is from the Abaradjou neighbourhood of Timbuktu and comes from a Berabiche father and a Tamashek mother. She is a cousin of Ali Farka Touré. She is the only singer in her family. She begins performing in 1970 at the age of eleven, making her public debut with a cultural group from Abaradjou. Her performance leads to recruitment by the troupe du cercle de Tombouctou, and later that year she becomes a soloist with the troupe regionale de Gao, with whom she appears at the 1970 biennale in Mali. In 1972 she joins the Orchestre de Tombouctou, a modern dance band, and in 1974 she represents Gao in Bamako at the final round of the biennale, where she wins third prize for best vocal soloist.

Career interruption and return

Arby’s career is interrupted in 1976 when her father forbids her from performing in public because she has abandoned her studies for music. She stops performing, leaves the Orchestre de Tombouctou and gets married. After her divorce in 1983, she returns to music. Back in Abaradjou, she manages a neighbourhood cultural group and works with a young female singer, but when that singer is prevented from performing, Arby takes the stage herself. That performance restarts her public career.

Recordings and collaborations

In 1990, after working in Bamako with Harouna Barry and the Orchestre Badema Nationale, Arby releases her first cassette, Moulaye. She follows it with Hala in 1993, recorded with her own group, and Ya Rassoul in 2002. Later recordings include the self-titled Khaira and Timbuktu Tarab, released on Clermont Music in 2010. She also collaborates with The Sway Machinery on The House of Friendly Ghosts Vol. 1 and with JeConte & the Mali All Stars on Mali Blues.

Style and themes

Her work combines rock, blues and desert blues influences with Malian traditional sounds, using guitar, ngoni, bass, violin and layered vocals. Her singing is noted for moving between languages and for its strong, central presence in the arrangement. The songs address marriage, love, peace, regional life, development and democracy, as well as subjects such as the conditions of workers in the salt mines and tributes to local people and communities.

Recognition

Arby receives the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mali in 2006. Timbuktu Tarab also places in Songlines magazine’s list of the top 25 albums of Malian music.