Ali Farka Touré and music of Mali - World Music

[EERecordist]

Ali Farka Touré (1939-2006) comes up sometimes on ASR. Readers may enjoy this article from 1999. The engineers traveled to Touré's farm to record.

At home with Ali Farka Touré

To record Ali Farka Touré’s album 'Niafunké', World Circuit took a mobile studio all the way to Mali. Nigel Williamson went to meet Touré for Songlines in the summer of 1999 and found out why his commitments at home meant that the mountain had to go to Mohammed

www.songlines.co.uk

Ry Cooder has been a friend to world music, with his collaboration with Touré and with Buena Vista Social Club. Both in association with the World Circuit record label, and Rick Gold in the remote recording session. Cooder also collaborated with Indian classical musicians and Tuvan throat singers in the world music genre.

His career is fascinating. His son Vieux Farka Touré collaborated with Khruangbin on one of their recordings. I always wanted to go to the Festival in the Desert (2001-2012) he was associated with.

Ali Farka Touré - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

His discovery has lead to more artists emerging from the region, including with label https://sahelsounds.com/

 

[Karmacoma]

 

[Karmacoma]

 

[pjug]

This group was recommended by my streaming service and I added them to my favorites.

 

[pjug]

Ali Farka Touré (1939-2006)

My wife likes to put on devotional music when she does her early morning yoga. If I sit with her I try to have her play Ali Farka Toure instead. Sometimes she agrees, and I am much happier!

 

[Somafunk]

His career is fascinating. His son Vieux Farka Touré collaborated with Khruangbin on one of their recordings. I always wanted to go to the Festival in the Desert (2001-2012) he was associated with.

He was an amazing artist wasn’t he?, a mate originally told me about this festival in Mali that he was going to document/film and at the time I had thrown myself into mtb racing so didn't pay it that much attention….it was only the following year with the release of the first “Festival in the Desert” CD that I sat up and paid attention, it introduced me to so many artists that have stayed with me such as Tinariwen who I’ve seen quite a few times - always stunning performances.

You may be interested in reading this below from Andy Morgan who became a major driving force with the festival, such a shame what has happened to the music scene in Mali with the rise of MUJAO in 2012 after the coup.

FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT – 2001, A Saharan Odyssey - Andy Morgan Writes

I first heard about the Festival in the Desert from Philippe Brix, the lean and indefatigable manager of the French global troubadours, Lo’Jo. Two years ago, on his return from one of Lo’Jo’s regular trips to Bamako, the capital of Mali, Philippe told me that the group had minted a solid and...

www.andymorganwrites.com

 

[Elgrosso]

Fascinating, I of course expected some harsh but it’s way more complex than I thought, ex-mercenaries, rebels from Kadhafi’s camps etc, extraordinary lives!
And very nice piece of text. Somafunk, for some reasons I always appreciated your music posts in the electro thread, will follow even more now.

 

[Elgrosso]

Wonderful!

Vieux Farka Touré - Ay bakoy​

and

Gi Ku Chi Fo​