Etran Finatawa (translated: "the stars of tradition") is a collaborative project between musicians of the Woodabe on the one hand and the Tuareg on the other; both nomad tribes from the immense desert border area between Mali, Mauritania and Niger. These days the six musicians that make up Etran Finatawa reside in Niamey, capital of Niger, but many of the songs on this album express a nostalgia for their nomadic existence ('Gaynaako', meaning "the shepherd" or 'Tekana', "the beauty of the desert").