On 19 July the world lost one of its most eloquent instrumentalists..
Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate was 58; he died after a short illness.
He was not the only great kora player, but he was, unquestionably, the kora’s most prominent and most influential exponent; Toumani Diabate turned it into a “concert” instrument.
At age 22 he recorded Kaira – the world’s first absolutely solo kora album.
(oft-misdescribed as an African “harp”, the kora is in fact a harp-lute)
Along with many other people, when I first heard Kaira, more than 35 years ago,I was awestruck.
Yes, the young man’s dexterity was astonishing, but even more striking was the music’s sheer beauty, its gravitas.
Reportedly, Toumani Diabate died in a hospital in Bamako, of kidney failure.
One of many obituaries is here.
He told his own story – and his instrument’s – in this 2008 video:
If you were to own just one Toumani Diabate album, The Mande Variations would be a good choice.
Toumani Diabate was a great interpreter of traditional Griot repertoire, a fine improviser, and a very effective collaborator with many notable musicians, worldwide.
In 2016 he and Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor performed several duo concerts, and then recorded The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere – an excellent album, eventually issued in 2023.
Toumani Diabate was also a gifted composer.
His “Lampedusa” is named after the Italian island where a great many Africans have arrived over the last several decades…not all of them arrived alive.
A succinct, sublime, 2014 “live” duo version, with Toumani’s son:
Toumani was no stranger to Pelican Yoga, as you can hear, here