About
The most well-known African guitarist in history, Ali Farka Toure enthralled
fans around the world with his deep-rooted, bluesy music. He played both
acoustic and electric guitars (including a guitar with a speaker and pick-up
that ran on batteries) as well as a shrill one-string violin, and was
usually accompanied by a percussionist playing a calabash gourd with sticks.
He made his initial mark in Mali's capital, Bamako, and later in Paris as a
virtuoso guitarist and singer of traditionally inspired songs. His first
performance in London in the late 1980s convinced musicologists that they
had discovered the roots of the blues; however upon further inquiry, he
cited John Lee Hooker as an influence. However, while his deep, nasal-toned
voice and blues-like riffs remind one of the Mississippi Delta, the spirit
of his music goes back centuries to ancient Malian folklore. He went on to
record with the Chieftains, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, while his landmark 1994
collaboration with Cooder, Talking Timbuktu, spent a record eight
months atop Billboard's world music charts. In 2005 he recorded his
final two albums, one of which -- his collaboration with Toumani Diabate,
In The Heart of the Moon -- won a Grammy award in 2006, just before
Toure succumbed to bone cancer at the age of 67.
- Robert Leaver
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.