Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder … Read Full Bio ↴Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder in 1995 joined forces to record the Grammy award-winning album Talking Timbuktu.
Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, who was one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders.
Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, who was one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders.
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Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder Lyrics
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@Musicienne-DAB1995
Tomorrow would have been Ali Farka Touré's 80th birthday. A great time to appreciate one of Africa's most eminent musicians. Not only that, but Farka Touré used his fame to improve the lives of Malians in his native Niafunké. His song Diaraby is rightly renowned worldwide, and one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard in my life. Proud to be of West African descent. Much love from Britain.
@NuPho88
True this. I couldn't come close to guessing how many times I've listened to "Diaraby" this album.
@hieronymus9
Written by Ali Farka Toure in the Songhai language with spoken intro in French. Liner note: "Recruitment in Africa. These are the young men who are sent to fight a war for a cause they do not know. To fight to the death in a war they do not understand. Brothers and sisters, there is a drought because of a lack of understanding between us. Kinship is losing its value. For the sake of the land let's keep our brotherhood alive. Hypocrisy and ignorance take their toll, we need to be strong, to unite for the good of all."
@emilesumerod3139
La sagesse d'un blues intemporel.
@amang1001
12 years to find this song I'm so happy
@MrTrystan2704
blues
@lolabella5574
A reminder of where the blues come from