I love traditional West African music. I discovered Ali Farka Touré’s fusion of traditional melodies alongside the American blues about 2 years ago, and this album, along with Talking Timbuktu (with Ry Cooder) are my favourites. The song Diaraby from the latter album is one of the most sincere, pure, and beautiful songs I have ever heard. It is also his most famous.
Today would have been his 78th birthday, so a good day to listen to his albums!
What I also respect about Ali Farka Touré (1939- 2006), compared to many popular musicians, is how he used his fame and influence to improve the lives of people in his native Mali. He became the mayor of Niafunké (a province in Mali) and used his own money to grade roads, install sewer canals, and provide people with electricity. It represents how music can be used as a force for good in the lives of ordinary people, a great contrast to how music is often used to sell violence, drugs, promiscuity, half-baked political tripe, and crass consumerism.
Mali is a fascinating country. Sadly, people in the West only hear about Mali because of the appalling Islamist terrorism currently going on, or because of the poverty and infant mortality. Both of these are true reflections of the country’s reality. Ali Farka Touré’s 10 siblings all died in infancy. His parents therefore nicknamed him Farka, which means donkey, owing to his resilience.
But there is more to Mali as a country. It is the home of ancient music and oral literary tradition, combined as one. Griots preserve tribal history through song and poetry, and Farka Touré’s music follows this. Like most African countries, it is multi-lingual and multi-tribal. (West Africans tend to be good with languages).
In the Middle Ages, great astronomers wrote important texts in Arabic about the universe, which were then hidden by students during the Colonial Age. King Mansa Musa ruled over the Mali Empire in the 1300′s, and has been estimated to be the richest man who ever lived. (Unfortunately, his greed for gold devalued his economy. I very much wonder whether the country ever recovered from that). The mosque at Djenné has survived for centuries, and historical markets survive too along the beautiful River Niger.
I will also post a link to Diaraby, which is a love song about a man who wants to marry a woman, but isn’t allowed to because her parents disapprove and he is too poor. Apart from the exquisite minor chords, I really admire the restrained nature of this song. Too many romance songs drip with saccharine. This one is mournful, solemn, and mature. It shows how love is actually a struggle. This song found popularity outside of Africa, thanks to the collaboration with Ry Cooder.
Ali Farka Touré has a son named Vieux Farka Touré, whom he initially discouraged from the music industry. That was unsuccessful. (What is it about parents discouraging their children from certain industries? I was reading a biography of Baroque composer Telemann, who was similarly discouraged from music, as was Handel. Never worked!) Vieux Farka Touré performs globally, and has collaborated with Israeli artist Idan Raichel.
