For each of the three nights, Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST will present artists in intimate settings (often behind their own globe-topped tiny desks), some of whom are making their globalFEST debuts, while a few others are notable past performers. The family members of Al Bilali Soudan, from Timbuktu, Mali, are sought-after musicians and griots. Led by Abellow Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of quintessentially Tamasheq (or Tuareg) music, shaped by a continuous exchange between the tehardent (lute), vocals and hand percussion. Kiran Ahluwalia's original compositions embody the essence of Indian music while embracing influences from Mali and Western blues, rock, R&B and jazz. Tufan Derince, a young Kurdish musician from Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey, is a master of the elektro bağlama, an electrified version of the bağlama of Turkish folk music.