Toumani Diabaté

Toumani Diabaté ( born August 10, 1965) is a Malian kora player who gave his music to international acclaim. He is considered by many people as the best kora player in the world. He is a versatile artist who excels in many ways, both with the traditional music of Mali as well as in border areas to flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.

Life

Toumani Diabaté comes from an ancient griot family, which can be traced back 70 generations according to his information, and learned the Koraspiel with his father Sidiki Diabaté, who was regarded as the most important kora player of his country to date and in 1970 took up the first one kora album.

The deep-rooted in tradition and at the same time very open-minded musician who counts James Brown his most important role models and is proud to show his teenage fondness for the German band Scorpions, has often worked with musicians outside the West African sphere.

With the Spanish progressive flamenco band Ketama he recorded two albums: Songhai and Songhai 2 With the American blues musician Taj Mahal, who also Dadi Kouyateh called to document its presumed origin in this West African griot family, he took 1999 album Kulanjan on. From an unusual but successful collaboration with the American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd, who is originally native to the free jazz, resulting album Malicool of 2003.

The rock musician Damon Albarn ( Blur, Gorillaz ), he recorded an album called Mali Music on (from Albarn allegedly without permission Diabates published). 2007, there was a collaboration with the Icelandic singer Bjork, the result in May 2007 under the title Hope on the album " Volta " was released.

Diabaté became famous with the first unaccompanied solo kora album ever, Kaira, which he recorded in 1987 in a single afternoon in London and established his position as the most outstanding player of his instrument. With his uncle Kélétigui Diabaté on Balaphon and other musicians in 1995 was the album Djelika, a finely woven piece of chamber music with many traditional pieces of the griot repertoire. Followed in 1999, New Ancient Strings with Battake Sissoko, 2005 In the Heart of the Moon with the late great Ali Farka Touré Malian guitarist.

2006 was followed by the great orchestrated album Boulevard de l' Independence and with his Symmetric Orchestra, with whom Diabaté years Fridays at Hotel Mandé in Bamako occurs. During the recordings, the orchestra was complemented by a brass section, led by Pee Wee Ellis, the saxophonist of his idol James Brown, and an American string group.

On his second CD for Kora solo, "The Mande Variations" (2008), Diabaté plays alongside a traditional, inherited from his father Kora also a slightly modernized instrument with curls for pitch adjustment ( rather than the traditional leather straps ).

Toumani Diabate, the kora has expanded its about a 22 string, a guest today at festivals around the world ( inter alia in Roskilde in 2006 and at the Cologne Music Triennale in May 2007).

Awards

  • 2007: Tamani of the best traditional music

Toumani Diabaté documentaries about

  • " Bamako is a Miracle " by Maurice Engler, Arnaud Robert and Samuel Chalard ( Afro Blue, Geneva 2003).
  • " Toumani Diabaté - Cora sounds from the land of hippos " by Martina Pfaff (WDR, Cologne 2007).

Discography

  • Kaira, 1987 (1989 published)
  • Songhai ( with Ketama and Danny Thompson ), 1989
  • Shake The World 1991
  • Songhai 2 (with Ketama, José Soto and Danny Thompson ), 1994
  • Djelika, 1995
  • New Ancient Strings ( with Ballaké Sissoko ), 1999
  • Kulanjan, 1999
  • Malicool, 2001
  • Mali Music, 2002
  • Jarabi ( a best-of album ) 2005
  • In the Heart of the Moon ( with Ali Farka Touré, as a guest, inter alia, Ry Cooder ), 2005 ( Grammy Award 2006 )
  • Boulevard de l Independence, 2006
  • The Mande Variations, 2008
  • Ali and Toumani (recordings from 2005/ 06 with Ali Farka Touré ( † 2006) ), 2010
Kora (instrument) Blur (band) Volta (Album) Integrated Authority File
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