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TOUMANI DIABATE (MALI)

Toumani Diabate album cover

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There are only a handful of musicians whose names are universally synonymous with their instrument. Think of the sitar, and Ravi Shankar instantly springs to mind. With the duduk, it鈥檚 Djivan Gasparyan. And those with any knowledge of world music will instantly associate the kora with Malian virtuoso Toumani Diabat茅. For it is he that has been most, erm, instrumental over the past two decades in bringing West Africa鈥檚 iconic 21-stringed harp-lute to the international stage.

Born into a lineage of griots or jelis (hereditary musicians) stretching back 71 generations to the glory days of the Mand茅 Empire, you might think he had an easy start. However, the tradition of fadenya (鈥榮truggle between generations鈥�) meant that Toumani never had a single lesson from his father Sidiki Diabat茅, once known as 鈥榢ing of the kora.鈥� He was thus forced to find his own 鈥榲oice鈥� on the instrument 鈥� one which, while strongly rooted in his own tradition, has been consistently open to experiment and cross-fertilisation with others. As he observed at a recent gig in London: 鈥淎 lot of people say English is the international language. I say music is.鈥�

Starting to play kora at only five, it was soon obvious he was unusually gifted. He joined his first ensemble at 13, and by his late teens was accompanying the likes of singers Kandia Kouyate and Oumou Sangar茅 on international tours. At 21, he recorded his stunning solo debut Kaira (1988), an instant classic. Subsequent collaborations included two albums with the Spanish flamenco group Ketama (as 鈥楽onghai鈥�), the Djelika project (1995) and the ethereal New Ancient Strings (1998) with his cousin Ballake Sissoko. He has also guested on albums by Taj Mahal, Salif Keita, Kasse Mady Diabate and Damon Albarn, among others.

Toumani has been exceptionally active of late, most recently on his second album with the Symmetric Orchestra in 2006 (鈥渢rying to rebuild the Mande Empire in a culture way 鈥� not a political way鈥�) and In The Heart Of The Moon (2005), his Grammy-winning duet album with the late Ali Farka Tour茅. A second instalment from those sessions is slated for release in 2008, preceded by another solo album in 2007.

Jon Lusk.

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Tell us what you think:

Will, England
Exceptionally talented. I am studying African instruments for GCSE and it is great to be able to listen to music like this!

Mac, Cambridge, UK
I am soooooo looking forward to catching this consumate musician at the Cambridge Folk Festival this year. Worth the queue all on his own.

Conchi Larios Mart贸n - Espa帽a
Merece un reconocimiento a su magn铆fico trabajo.