31-10-2017, 17:39
Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré was born on this day in 1939, in Timbuktu, Mali. He died in 2006, from bone cancer. In an inconceivably brutal hand dealt out to his parents, Touré was their tenth and only son surviving past infancy. His nickname, Farka, means donkey and was chosen, no doubt, to denote stubbornness and tenacity. He hung on, clearly!
An important figure in music on the African continent, he gained worldwide recognition for his guitar skills, particularly after his 1994 collaboration with Ry Cooder, who seems to have made it his mission in life to reveal sometimes obscure musicians to the planet at large, and what a good thing that is too! He was also a master of the njarka, a small fiddle which is native to Mali, made from a gourd with one gut string.
It would appear that Touré had the blues encoded in his DNA and it is said that he was the first African bluesman to achieve wide popularity on this continent, becoming known as the African John Lee Hooker; in fact, he appears in a 2003 documentary by Martin Scorsese, Feel Like Going Home, which traces the roots of the blues right back to West Africa. A year after that film was made, he went on to become the mayor of his impoverished childhood town, Niafunké, and admirably spent his own money on upgrading the roads and sewerage systems, as well as fuelling a generator to provide the town with electricity. Would that all the world’s politicians and office bearers were made of such philanthropic material!
During his lifetime he received two Grammy awards, was nominated for a third posthumously, and was ranked 76th on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time. There is more, I’m sure! His son, Vieux Farka Touré seems to be perpetuating his father’s legacy and the traditions of Malian folk music, and he too has been brought to the attention of a broader audience through collaboration – not with Ry Cooder this time, but with Idan Raichel – I love this song they made together - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAw1Ktei98.
But to get back to the gentleman in question - this is from Talking Timbuktu – Ali Farke Touré with Ry Cooder …
An important figure in music on the African continent, he gained worldwide recognition for his guitar skills, particularly after his 1994 collaboration with Ry Cooder, who seems to have made it his mission in life to reveal sometimes obscure musicians to the planet at large, and what a good thing that is too! He was also a master of the njarka, a small fiddle which is native to Mali, made from a gourd with one gut string.
It would appear that Touré had the blues encoded in his DNA and it is said that he was the first African bluesman to achieve wide popularity on this continent, becoming known as the African John Lee Hooker; in fact, he appears in a 2003 documentary by Martin Scorsese, Feel Like Going Home, which traces the roots of the blues right back to West Africa. A year after that film was made, he went on to become the mayor of his impoverished childhood town, Niafunké, and admirably spent his own money on upgrading the roads and sewerage systems, as well as fuelling a generator to provide the town with electricity. Would that all the world’s politicians and office bearers were made of such philanthropic material!
During his lifetime he received two Grammy awards, was nominated for a third posthumously, and was ranked 76th on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time. There is more, I’m sure! His son, Vieux Farka Touré seems to be perpetuating his father’s legacy and the traditions of Malian folk music, and he too has been brought to the attention of a broader audience through collaboration – not with Ry Cooder this time, but with Idan Raichel – I love this song they made together - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAw1Ktei98.
But to get back to the gentleman in question - this is from Talking Timbuktu – Ali Farke Touré with Ry Cooder …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson