Ali Farka Toure RIP

NYT review adds

Mr. Touré's deep grounding in Malian traditions made him one of African music's most profound innovators. “Mali is first and foremost a library of the history of African music,” he said in a 2005 interview with the world-music magazine Fly. “It is also the sharing of history, legend, biography of Africa.” After news of his death, radio stations in Mali suspended regular programming to play his music.

Mr. Touré forged connections between the hypnotic modal riffs of Malian songs and the driving one-chord boogie of American bluesmen like John Lee Hooker; he mingled the plucked patterns of traditional songs with the aggressive lead-guitar lines of rock. He sang in various West African languages — his own Sonrai as well as Songhai, Bambara, Peul, Tamasheck and others — reflecting the traditional foundations of the songs he wrote. His lyrics, in West African style, represented the conscience of a community, urging listeners to work hard, honor the past and act virtuously. Mr. Touré collaborated widely, winning Grammy Awards for albums he made with the American guitarist Ry Cooder (“Talking Timbuktu” in 1994) and with the Malian griot Toumani Diabate (“In the Heart of the Moon,” 2005). He also recorded with the American bluesman Taj Mahal.

In an interview today, Mr. Cooder said, “It's important for a traditional performer to be coming from a place and tradition. And most people who are like that tend to be part of their scene rather than transcendent of their scene. That's what their calling is all about. But Ali was a seeker. There was powerful psychology there. He was not governed by anything — he was free to move about in his mind.”

..He heard the music of spirit ceremonies and taught himself to play njurkle, a one-stringed West African lute, in 1950, and then the n'jarka, a one-stringed fiddle, and n'goni, a four-stringed lute. When he was about 13, after an encounter with a snake, he suffered attacks he believed to be caused by contact with the spirit world; sent away for a year to be cured, he returned as someone recognized for the ability to communicate with spirits. “I have all the spirits,” he wrote in liner notes to the collection “Radio Mali” (World Circuit/Nonesuch). “I work the spirits and I work with the spirits.” After seeing the Guinean guitarist Keita Fodeba he took up guitar in the mid-1950's and joined a local band.

...In 1987, he performed in England and began recording for international release with “Ali Farka Touré” (World Circuit/Nonesuch). The stark propulsion of his music, and its hints of electric blues, made him a star on the world-music circuit, and he toured America, Europe and Japan. Around 2000, he retired from touring to return to his farm. He established the Ali Farka Touré Foundation, nurturing younger Malian musicians, and he continued to perform in Mali. But he did make occasional international forays. He often said that he considered himself a farmer above all, and in 2004 he was elected mayor of the Niafunke region. His final concert was at a festival in Nice, France, in 2005.

Oh, and since someone was looking for “scorsese 1999 documentary film ali farka toure” - per Netflix, the multi-disc set

The Blues - A Musical Journey

This disc includes the film “Feel Like Going Home,” in which blues artist Corey Harris takes you on a musical journey from blues breeding ground Mississippi to as far as West Africa to get at the core of the celebrated Delta blues music style. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film showcases performances from the likes of Harris, Willie King and Taj Mahal, as well as archival footage highlighting greats such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

Additional Actors: Taj Mahal, Corey Harris, Otha Turner, Pat Thomas, Sam Carr, Dick Waterman, Ali Farka Toure, Habib Koite, Salif Keita, Toumani Diabate, Keb' Mo', Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker

Tags: music, /obituary