Five Performances that Highlight Toumani Diabaté’s Greatness
Mali’s “King of Kora” passed away over the weekend, leaving behind his indelible imprint as a prolific creator, willing collaborator, and all-time great performer.
Over the weekend, the family of Toumani Diabaté announced the passing of the iconic Malian musician after a brief illness. Diabaté was 58 and was widely referred to as Mali’s “King of Kora,” hailed for his preternatural and otherworldly mastery of the West African stringed harp instrument.
Born to a line of griots, Diabaté traced his lineage back to 71 generations of musicians and storytellers. His father, Sidiki Diabaté, was a prominent musician who was also referred to as “King of Kora,” until he took the mantle from the late ‘80s onwards.
Diabaté leaves a towering legacy behind, having released well over a dozen albums, some of which were created in collaboration with artists from all over the world. He was also an accomplished performer, holding audiences spellbound by his prowess. In memory of glorious life, here are five performances that will no doubt lure you to revere Diabaté — if you don’t already.
“Jarabi” - Big World Café (1989)
In 1988, Diabaté recorded his debut album, Kaira, in a single day. It was the first solo kora album with no overdubs, and it spotlighted the artist’s ability to create dynamic, moving pieces with zero assistance. On the British television music show, Big World Café, Diabaté performed a gem off his debut and one of his greatest songs, “Jarabi,” a mournful yet passionate love song. With the spotlight on him, the audience fell into an entranced hush as Diabaté plucked the kora with his endearing mastery.
“Debe” w/ Ali Farka Touré - BOZAR, Brussels (2005)
In the Heart of the Moon, the joint album by Diabaté and the late, great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré is a seminal Blues-Folk album within the canon of African music. The Grammy-winning album is an enthralling merger of rhythms and melodies, with both artists finding common ground in an easy push and pull. Performing “Debe” at the Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, also known as BOZAR, the joyous dynamic between the pair is tangible, Diabaté, the younger of the duo enlivening the piece with his showmanship, while Touré comfortably picks his spots.
“Toumani” - Cambridge Folk Festival (2007)
Diabaté was a consummate collaborator. Beyond the sprawling list of solo artists he worked with, an indelible achievement of his is the Symmetric Orchestra, an ensemble of West African musicians, mostly griots, who play their classic instruments in inventive fashion. Coming off its 2006 folk-dance opus, Boulevard de l’Independance, the orchestra performed across the world. A glimpse of that era is the performance of opening track “Toumani” at the Cambridge Folk Festival, a jam session that showed Diabaté and his colleagues were attuned to the fun-leaning parts of their instruments.
Dueling with Béla Fleck - Telluride Bluegrass Festival (2009)
In 2020, Diabaté released The Ripple Effect, a joint album with American banjo maestro Béla Fleck. It was one of the many global musical collisions Diabaté threw himself into, but there was an even more natural chemistry to the pairing, which had evolved from several occasions of performing together. At the 2009 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, what initially starts as a playful duel morphs into an improvised jam session, as both string virtuosos grin with respect at each other’s abilities.
“Jarabi” w/ Sidiki Diabaté Jr. - Rocher De Palmer (2014)
Diabaté has ensured that the generation after him continues the family’s griot tradition. In 2014, he released an eponymous joint album with his son, Sidiki Diabaté Jr., named after the younger Diabaté’s grandfather. While they toured the album together, a stirring performance of Toumani’s “Tarabi” at the Rocher de Palmer studios is emblematic of the torch being passed. A classic that had already been performed many times, the father-son duo breathes new life into the song with an awe-inspiring level of chemistry, going from mirroring each other to several runs of melodic interplay.
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