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| Ali Farka Toure is dead Ali Farka Toure, guitarist, composer and singer, one of the most famous artists in the field of world music, died March 7, 2006, from bone cancer. He was born in 1939 in Gourmararusse (in the Timbuktu region), Mali, into the noble Sorhai family. Ali Farka Toure took up the guitar at the age of ten, but it wasn't until about age 17 that he really got a handle on the instrument. In 1956, Ali Farka Toure saw a performance by the great Guinean guitarist Keita Fodeba in Bamako. He was so moved that he decided then and there to become a guitarist. Teaching himself, Alila Farka Toure adapted traditional songs using the techniques he had learned on the gurkel. During a visit to Bamako in the late 1960's, artists such as Ray Charles, Otis Redding and most importantly John Lee Hooker introduced Ali Farka Toure to African-American music. His recording career began in France in 1976. For years he followed a successful career in West Africa adapting traditional songs and rhythms in ten languages from Mali's enormous cultural wealth. In 1992 he recorded the famous CD Talking Timbuktu with American guitarist Ry Cooder. The album won a Grammy award. In January of 2004, World Circuit's Nick Gold was recording Ali Farka Toure's first album in five years. The guitarist and his longtime producer from World Circuit invited Toumani Diabate to join Toure for one track: the traditional Malian song, "Kaira." Without rehearsal, the duo improvised a version of the piece and quickly began recording another. The collaboration was so successful Nick Gold suggested they create an entire album together. In the Heart of the Moon was the first of a trilogy of albums Nick Gold's label recorded at the Hotel Mande. The record also includes subtle contributions from Ry Cooder on piano and guitar; Sekou Kante and Cachaíto López on bass; and Joachim Cooder and Olalekan Babalola on percussion. In the Heart of the Moon won a world music Grammy in 2005. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |