Ali Farka Toure

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Ali Farka Touré with electric guitar

Ali Ibrahim "Farka" Touré (1939 - March 7 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music is at the crossroad of traditional Malian music (one of the main roots of contemporary North American blues) ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} and modern feedback influences from North American and English blues.

He was born in 1939 (he did not know the exact date of birth) in the Muslim village of Kanau, near Gourma Rharous on the banks of the Niger River in northwestern Malian region of Tombouctou. He was the tenth son of his mother but the only one to survive past infancy. His nickname, "Farka", chosen by his parents, means "donkey" - an animal admired for its tenacity and stubbornness. He was descended from the ancient military force known as the Arma, and was ethnically tied to the Songrai (Songhai) and Peul 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 R. L. Burnside's hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languages, mostly Songhay, Fulfulde, or Tamasheq, as on his breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré, which established his reputation in the world music community. 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. His guitar riff from the song "Diaraby," on 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. He reappeared in 1999 with Niafunké, a more traditional album focusing on African rhythms and beats. Touré is noted as the mentor to popular Malian musician Afel Bocoum.

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 his second Grammy award.

On 7 March 2006 the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced his death at the age of 67, from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some time in Bamako. His record label, World Circuit, said that he had just completed work on a new solo album. He also recorded several tracks with his son Vieux Farka Touré for Vieux's debut album which will be released in Fall 2006.

Contents

1 Discography
2 Films
3 References
4 External links

Discography

1976 - Farka
1987 - Ali Farka Touré
1990 - The River (World Circuit)
1992 - The Source (Ali Farka Touré album) (World Circuit)
1994 - Talking Timbuktu (World Circuit)
1996 - Radio Mali (World Circuit)
1999 - Niafunké (World Circuit)
2004 - Red/Green (World Circuit; remastered original albums from 1979 and 1988)
2005 - In the Heart of the Moon (Nonesuch) (with Toumani Diabate)
2006 - Savane (World Circuit)

Films

[Ali Farka Touré: Ça coule de source] (2000). Directed by Yves Billon and Henry Lecomte.

References

Kubik, Gerhard (1999). Africa and the Blues. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1578061458 (hardcover); ISBN 1578061466 (paperback).
Guralnick, Peter, ed. (2003). Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey. A companion book to the PBS documentary series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey. Foreword by Alex Gibney; afterword by Chuck D. New York: Amistad.

External links

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