Toumani diabate biography of rory

No one can say for certain where the African antecedents of American blues music may lie, for an essential trait of African-American music is that it distills the experience of diverse African peoples united under a common yoke. Nevertheless, historians and some performers have long noticed affinities between Malian music and the blues. The vocal line in both forms tends to start at the top of the singer's range and descend over the course of a line of text, for example, and a complex, often rhythmically independent relationship between voice and accompaniment is another common trait.

When American folk blues musician Taj Mahal visited Mali and decided to investigate the connections by collaborating with a Malian performer, it was Diabate that he chose. Kulanjan, a joint release by Mahal and Diabate, with contributions from several other Malian musicians, was released in The album contained blues standards like "Queen Bee" as well as African pieces, and it led to appearances for Diabate, both with Taj Mahal and alone, in large U.

Diabate continued to seek out new co-creators, recording the album MALIcool with American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd for release on the Soundscape label in By that time Diabate was a well-established figure in Mali. Married and with children, he taught kora at the Mali Conservatory of Music. He estimated that he has given over 2, kora concerts since the mids.

On the docket for Diabate in was a new kind of collaboration--not with an international musician but with Mali's other modern-day legend, guitarist Ali Farka Toure. The two represented different traditions within Mali; Diabate came from the griot tradition in the south, whereas Toure was from Niafunke in the northern part of the country.

But Toure had also experimented with the relationship between Malian music and the blues, and the two had long admired each other. The pair toured Britain that year, and the album inspired speculation that Malian music might be ready for an international breakthrough on the order of that achieved by Cuban traditional music after the release of the Buena Vista Social Club film and album.

The charismatic Diabate was ready to ride the trend, with new music from an ensemble he dubbed the Symmetric Orchestra slated for release in Self-taught player of the kora, a stringed West African instrument; toured with vocalist Kandia Kouyate, ; recorded debut album, Kaira, and toured U. Selected discography Kaira Hannibal, With Ketama and Danny Thompson Songhai Jarabi compilationHannibal, In the Heart of the Moon World Circuit, They say that the blues comes from Africa, so it seemed entirely natural that Toumani should collaborate with bluesman Taj Mahal.

Toumani diabate biography of rory

Their groundbreaking album Kulanjan was released in Toumani accompanied Ali on his last concert tour in the summer of during which they spent 3 days in a London studio recording Ali and Toumanithe follow up to In the Heart of the Moonwhich also won a Grammy. Inhe performed at the Glastonbury Festival and toured the US. However, some copies of the original game had already been sold in the Middle East and United States.

He also performed at Hay Festival in June. In July, he played at the Larmer Tree Festival. In Marchhe received an honorary doctorate in music from SOAS for his contribution in raising awareness of the kora and traditional Malian music. It was planned as a collection of outdoor and indoor music events to draw crowds of more than 20, people.

The Bamako hotel attack meant that all the outdoor events were cancelled, however. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Malian musician — Music of Mali pop world music. Musical artist. Biography [ edit ]. Discography [ edit ].

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