Omara "Bombino" Moctar is a Tuareg (= Kel Tamasheq) musician from Niger, recognized around the world as a guitar virtuoso and as a master of the West African musical genre known as "desert blues". Historically, this style of music shares roots with Afrocuban, as well as Misissippi Delta blues, which has clearly made it easier for western audiences to embrace Bombino and other artists from this region. He has worked with western musicians in some of his albums and gone back to his fellow West African musicians in others. Bombino's music has the unmistakable Tuareg qualities and evocative of the wide open Saharan landscapes. He sings in his native Tamasheq, and has a fairly recognizable finger-picking style that he attributes to Mark Knopfler's influence, which has earned him the reputation as "The Sultan of Shred".