Ali Farka Touré
Encyclopedia
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Mali
an singer and guitar
ist, and one of the Africa
n continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music
and its North American cousin, the blues
. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese
’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone
’ s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
in the cercle
of Gourma Rharous in the northwestern Malian region of Tombouctou. His family moved to the nearby village of Niafunké
when he was still an infant. He was the tenth son of his mother but the only one to survive past infancy. “The name I was given was Ali Ibrahim, but it’s a custom in Africa to give a child a strange nickname if you have had other children who have died”, Touré was quoted as saying in a biography on his Record Label, World Circuit
Records. His nickname, “Farka”, chosen by his parents, means “donkey
”, an animal admired for its tenacity and stubbornness: “Let me make one thing clear. I’m the donkey that nobody climbs on!” He was descended from the ancient military force known as the Arma
, and was ethnically tied to the Songrai (Songhai) and Fula
peoples of northern Mali.
As the first African bluesman to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré was often known as “the African John Lee Hooker
”. Musically, the many superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John Lee Hooker’s hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languages
, mostly Songhay
, Fulfulde
, Tamasheq
or Bambara
as on his breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré
, which established his reputation in the world music
community.
His first North American concert was in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia
. 1994’s Talking Timbuktu
, a collaboration with Ry Cooder
, sold promisingly well in Western markets, but was followed by a hiatus from releases in America and Europe
. He reappeared in 1999 with the release of Niafunké, a more traditional album focusing on African rhythms and beats. Touré was the mentor and uncle of popular Malian musician Afel Bocoum
.
Some of Ali Farka Touré’s songs and tunes have been used in different programmes, films and documentaries. For instance, his guitar riff on the song “Diaraby”, from the album Talking Timbuktu, was selected for the Geo-quiz segment of The World
PRI
-BBC
program, and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote of the listeners. This song is likewise used in 1998 as a soundtrack for the film L’Assedio
(Besieged) by the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci
. His songs Cinquante six, Goye Kur and Hawa Dolo from the album The Source are also used as a soundtrack in the French film Fin août, début septembre (Late August, Early September) directed in 1998 by Olivier Assayas
.
In 2002 he appeared with Black American blues and reggae performer Corey Harris
, on an album called Mississippi to Mali (Rounder Records). Toure and Harris also appeared together in Martin Scorsese's 2003 documentary film Feel Like Going Home, which traced the roots of blues back to its genesis in West Africa. The film was narrated by Harris and features Ali’s performances on guitar and njarka
.
In 2004 Touré became mayor of Niafunké
and spent his own money grading the roads, putting in sewer canals and fuelling a generator that provided the impoverished town with electricity.
In September 2005, he released the album In the Heart of the Moon
, a collaboration with Toumani Diabaté
, for which he received a second Grammy award. His last album, Savane
, was posthumously released in July 2006. It was received with wide acclaim by professionals and fans alike and has been nominated for a Grammy Award
in the category “Best Contemporary World Music Album”. The panel of experts from the World Music Chart Europe (WMCE), a chart voted by the leading World Music specialists around Europe, chose Savane as their Album of the Year 2006, with the album topping the chart for three consecutive months (September to November 2006). The album has also been listed as No. 1 in the influential Metacritic
’s “Best Albums of 2006” poll, and No. 5 in its all-time best reviewed albums. Ali Farka Touré has also recently been nominated for the BBC Radio 3
awards 2007.
On March 7, 2006, the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced his death at age 66 in Bamako
from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some time. His record label, World Circuit, said that he recorded several tracks with his son, Vieux Farka Touré
, for Vieux’s debut album which was released in late 2006.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
an singer and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, and one of the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music
Music of Mali
The Music of Mali is dominated by forms derived from the ancient Mande Empire. The Mande people make up most of the country's population, and their musicians, professional performers called jeliw , have produced a vibrant popular music scene alongside traditional folk music...
and its North American cousin, the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Biography
He was born in 1939 in the village of Kanau, on the banks of the Niger RiverNiger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
in the cercle
Cercle (French colonial)
Cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration in French Colonial Africa that was headed by a European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was instituted in France's African colonies from 1895 to 1946.At the...
of Gourma Rharous in the northwestern Malian region of Tombouctou. His family moved to the nearby village of Niafunké
Niafunké
- External links :* Short album description and sample of Tulumba....
when he was still an infant. He was the tenth son of his mother but the only one to survive past infancy. “The name I was given was Ali Ibrahim, but it’s a custom in Africa to give a child a strange nickname if you have had other children who have died”, Touré was quoted as saying in a biography on his Record Label, World Circuit
World Circuit (record label)
World Circuit is a world-music record label that specializes in Cuban and West African recording artists, among other international music stars. World Circuit celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006 by releasing World Circuit Presents..., a 2-disc retrospective compilation album...
Records. His nickname, “Farka”, chosen by his parents, means “donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
”, an animal admired for its tenacity and stubbornness: “Let me make one thing clear. I’m the donkey that nobody climbs on!” He was descended from the ancient military force known as the Arma
Armas
The Arma people are an ethnic group of the middle Niger River valley, descended in part from Moroccan - Spanish invaders of the 16th century. The name, applied by other groups, derives from the Arabic word arrimah, « shooters »....
, and was ethnically tied to the Songrai (Songhai) and Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
peoples of northern Mali.
As the first African bluesman to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré was often known as “the African John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
”. Musically, the many superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John Lee Hooker’s hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
, mostly Songhay
Songhay languages
The Songhay, Songhai, or Songai languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centered on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African states of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the...
, Fulfulde
Fula language
The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...
, Tamasheq
Tuareg languages
Tuareg is a Berber language or family of very closely related languages and dialects spoken by the Tuareg Berbers, in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.- Description :Other Berber languages and Tamashaq are quite mutually...
or Bambara
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
as on his breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré
Ali Farka Touré (album)
Ali Farka Touré is the first major album by Ali Farka Touré.-Track listing:# Timbarma – 5:08# Singya – 5:26# Nawiye – 5:40# Bakoytereye – 5:02# Tchigi Fo – 4:30# Amandrai – 7:19# Kadi Kadi – 5:27...
, which established his reputation in the world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
community.
His first North American concert was in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia
Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia
The Village of Harrison Hot Springs is a small community at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. It is a member of the Fraser Valley Regional District; its immediate neighbour is the District of Kent and included in it, the town of Agassiz. It is a resort...
. 1994’s Talking Timbuktu
Talking Timbuktu
Talking Timbuktu is the 1994, Grammy award-winning collaboration between Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder...
, a collaboration with Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, sold promisingly well in Western markets, but was followed by a hiatus from releases in America and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He reappeared in 1999 with the release of Niafunké, a more traditional album focusing on African rhythms and beats. Touré was the mentor and uncle of popular Malian musician Afel Bocoum
Afel Bocoum
Afel Bocoum is a musician from Mali, noted as a singer and guitarist. He began his career as a member of Ali Farka Toure's group ASCO, and Toure is often regarded as his mentor. Both men come from the town of Niafunke on the River Niger, and are members of the Sonrai people...
.
Some of Ali Farka Touré’s songs and tunes have been used in different programmes, films and documentaries. For instance, his guitar riff on the song “Diaraby”, from the album Talking Timbuktu, was selected for the Geo-quiz segment of The World
The World (radio program)
PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...
PRI
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
-BBC
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
program, and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote of the listeners. This song is likewise used in 1998 as a soundtrack for the film L’Assedio
Besieged (film)
Besieged is a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci starring Thandie Newton and David Thewlis.It is based on the short story "The Siege" by James Lasdun.-Plot:David Thewlis plays an English pianist/composer living in Rome...
(Besieged) by the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
. His songs Cinquante six, Goye Kur and Hawa Dolo from the album The Source are also used as a soundtrack in the French film Fin août, début septembre (Late August, Early September) directed in 1998 by Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas is a French film director and screenwriter.He made his debut in 1986, after directing some short films and writing for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.-Career:...
.
In 2002 he appeared with Black American blues and reggae performer Corey Harris
Corey Harris
Corey Harris is an American blues and reggae musician, currently residing in Virginia. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid 1990s...
, on an album called Mississippi to Mali (Rounder Records). Toure and Harris also appeared together in Martin Scorsese's 2003 documentary film Feel Like Going Home, which traced the roots of blues back to its genesis in West Africa. The film was narrated by Harris and features Ali’s performances on guitar and njarka
Njarka
The njarka is a small fiddle made from a gourd, with one gut string, which is native to Mali. Probably the most notable njarka player was Ali Farka Touré....
.
In 2004 Touré became mayor of Niafunké
Niafunké
- External links :* Short album description and sample of Tulumba....
and spent his own money grading the roads, putting in sewer canals and fuelling a generator that provided the impoverished town with electricity.
In September 2005, he released the album In the Heart of the Moon
In the Heart of the Moon
In the Heart of the Moon is a 2005 record by Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré on the guitar and providing vocals and Toumani Diabaté on the kora. The album was recorded in the "Toit de Bamako" conference room on the top floor of the Hotel Mandé overlooking the Niger River in Bamako, Mali...
, a collaboration with Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...
, for which he received a second Grammy award. His last album, Savane
Savane (album)
Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold...
, was posthumously released in July 2006. It was received with wide acclaim by professionals and fans alike and has been nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the category “Best Contemporary World Music Album”. The panel of experts from the World Music Chart Europe (WMCE), a chart voted by the leading World Music specialists around Europe, chose Savane as their Album of the Year 2006, with the album topping the chart for three consecutive months (September to November 2006). The album has also been listed as No. 1 in the influential Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
’s “Best Albums of 2006” poll, and No. 5 in its all-time best reviewed albums. Ali Farka Touré has also recently been nominated for the BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
awards 2007.
On March 7, 2006, the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced his death at age 66 in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some time. His record label, World Circuit, said that he recorded several tracks with his son, Vieux Farka Touré
Vieux Farka Touré
Boureima "Vieux" Farka Touré is a Malian singer and guitarist. He is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.-Biography:Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981 to Ali Farka Touré...
, for Vieux’s debut album which was released in late 2006.
Cultural references
- In the French film The Spanish ApartmentThe Spanish ApartmentL'Auberge Espagnole is a 2002 French film directed and written by Cédric Klapisch...
(2002) two characters are seen playing air guitarAir guitarPlaying air guitar is a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar, including riffs, solos, etc. Playing an air guitar usually consists of exaggerated strumming and picking motions and is often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching...
to “Ai Du”. - In the movie Unfaithful (2002), Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez slow dance to “Ai Du”.
- In the French film Irma VepIrma VepIrma Vep is a 1996 film directed by the French director Olivier Assayas, starring Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung in a story about the disasters that ensue as a middle-aged French film director attempts to remake Louis Feuillade's classic silent film serial Les vampires...
(1996), Maggie Cheung and Nathalie Richard ride an old motorcycle down the quay to Touré’s song “Soukoura”. - In the 2005 travel film Michael Palin: SAHARA, his music is heard in a scene about Nigerian nomads.
- "The WorldThe World (radio program)PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...
", a radio show distributed by Public Radio InternationalPublic Radio InternationalPublic Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
, uses the song "Diaraby" as the theme to their Geoquiz. The song is a collaboration between Touré and Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
; the song is featured on their Talking TimbuktuTalking TimbuktuTalking Timbuktu is the 1994, Grammy award-winning collaboration between Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder...
album. - In 2008, Zack de la RochaZack de la RochaZacarías Manuel "Zack" de la Rocha is an American rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.-Early life and childhood:...
's lyrics from "If You Fear Dying" on One Day as a LionOne Day as a LionOne Day As A Lion is a music project that was started in 2008 by Zack de la Rocha, the vocalist of Rage Against the Machine and Jon Theodore, former drummer of The Mars Volta. The duo blends elements of rock, rap, and punk...
's debut album references Ali: "I'm in with the spirit of Ali Touré, as I target more heads than a priest on Ash WednesdayAsh WednesdayAsh Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
."
Discography
- 1976 - Ali Touré Farka (Sonafric 50016-LP)
- 1976 - Spécial « Biennale du Mali » (Sonafric 50020-LP)
- 1978 - Biennale (Sonafric 50032-LP)
- 1979 - Ali Touré Farka (Sonafric 50060-LP)
- 1980 - Ali Touré dit Farka (Sonafric 50085-LP)
- 1984 - Ali Farka Touré (Red) (Sonodisc/Esperance 5558)
- 1988 - Ali Farka Touré (Green) (Sonodisc/Esperance 8448)
- 1988 - Ali Farka TouréAli Farka Touré (album)Ali Farka Touré is the first major album by Ali Farka Touré.-Track listing:# Timbarma – 5:08# Singya – 5:26# Nawiye – 5:40# Bakoytereye – 5:02# Tchigi Fo – 4:30# Amandrai – 7:19# Kadi Kadi – 5:27...
(World CircuitWorld CircuitWorld Circuit can mean:* World Circuit , a famous world music record label.* Formula One Grand Prix , a racing simulator video game known as "World Circuit" in the US....
WCD007 / Mango 9826) - 1990 - African BluesAfrican BluesAfrican Blues is an album by Ali Farka Touré, originally released as Ali Farka Touré in 1988.-Track listing:# "Sidy Gouro" – 3:45# "Okatagouna" – 4:22# "Devele Wague" – 5:59# "N'Timbara" – 3:58# "Zona" – 7:45...
(Shanachie 65002) (originally released as Ali Farka Touré (Green)) - 1990 - The RiverThe River (Ali Farka Touré album)-Track listing:# "Ai Bine" – 6:17# "Kenouna" – 4:58# "Toungere" – 7:28# "Heygana" – 5:55# "Jungou" – 7:21# "Goydiotodam" – 6:22# "Lobo" – 6:40# "Tamala" – 8:03# "Boyrei" – 5:18# "Tangambara" – 5:18# "Instrumental" – 2:58-Personnel:...
(World Circuit WCD017 / Mango 9897) - 1993 - The SourceThe Source (Ali Farka Touré album)-Track listing:# "Goye Kur" – 6:24# "Inchana Massina" – 5:13# "Roucky" – 8:18# "Dofana" – 7:31# "Karaw" – 6:28# "Hawa Dolo" – 5:47# "Cinquante Six" – 5:31# "I Go Ka" – 3:59# "Yenna" – 5:54# "Mahini Me" – 5:24-Personnel:...
(World Circuit WCD030 / Hannibal 1375) with Taj MahalTaj Mahal (musician)Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music... - 1994 - Talking TimbuktuTalking TimbuktuTalking Timbuktu is the 1994, Grammy award-winning collaboration between Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder...
(World Circuit WCD040 / Hannibal 1381) (with Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
) - 1996 - Radio MaliRadio MaliRadio Mali is an album by Ali Farka Touré, consisting of remastered selections from several earlier albums originally recorded between 1975 and 1980.-Track listing:# "Njarka" – 0:43# "Yer Mali Gakoyoyo" – 4:47# "Soko" – 5:06# "Bandalabourou" – 6:41...
(World Circuit WCD044 / Nonesuch 79569) (remastered selections of original albums from 1975 through 1980) - 1999 - Niafunké (World Circuit WCD054 / Hannibal 1443)
- 2002 - Mississippi to MaliMississippi to MaliMississippi to Mali is a blues album by Corey Harris. It was released on 18 November 2003, through Rounder Records.- Track listing :# "Coahoma" - 1:49# "Big Road Blues" - 3:05# "Special Rider Blues" - 4:54...
(Rounder B0000DJZA1)(with Corey HarrisCorey HarrisCorey Harris is an American blues and reggae musician, currently residing in Virginia. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid 1990s...
) - 2004 - Red&Green (World Circuit WCD070 / Nonesuch 79882) (remastered original albums from 1984 and 1988)
- 2005 - In the Heart of the MoonIn the Heart of the MoonIn the Heart of the Moon is a 2005 record by Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré on the guitar and providing vocals and Toumani Diabaté on the kora. The album was recorded in the "Toit de Bamako" conference room on the top floor of the Hotel Mandé overlooking the Niger River in Bamako, Mali...
(World Circuit WCD072 / Nonesuch 79920) (with Toumani DiabatéToumani DiabatéToumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...
and Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
) - 2006 - SavaneSavane (album)Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold...
(World Circuit WCD075 / Nonesuch 79965) - 2010 - Ali and ToumaniAli and ToumaniAli and Toumani is a 2010 record by Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré on the guitar and providing vocals and Toumani Diabaté on the kora. This is the last album recorded by both Ali Farka Touré and Cachaíto López...
- (World CircuitWorld CircuitWorld Circuit can mean:* World Circuit , a famous world music record label.* Formula One Grand Prix , a racing simulator video game known as "World Circuit" in the US....
/Nonesuch RecordsNonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
) with Toumani DiabatéToumani DiabatéToumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...
Filmography
- 2002 - Ali Farka Touré - Le miel n'est jamais bon dans une seule bouche - a documentary film by Marc Huraux
- "A Visit to Ali Farka Toure" was released on DVD in the UK by Digital Classics DVDDigital Classics DVDDigital Classics DVD Limited is a UK-based DVD label which releases titles in the UK and worldwide across a range of genres: music, arts, documentaries, dramas and classic British comedy...
.
External links
- Official website
- Official page on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Multimedia website
- Fondation Ali Farka Touré
- Ali Farka Touré at NPR Music
- A Thorough Discography (click on the images for more info. and sample music)
- "ALI FARKA TOURE, springing from the roots " 1999 Documentary 52'