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Ali Farka Touré - "Savane"
Saturday, 30 December 2006
Ali Farka Touré (1939-2006) was one of ten sons born into the noble Sorhai family around Northern Mali and the only to survive past infancy. His nickname given by his parents, “Farka,” means donkey—an animal revered for its stubborness and determination.
“Let me make one thing clear. I’m the donkey that nobody climbs on!”
Picking up the guitar at age 10, he also learned how to play the gurkel and njarka, instruments included in many of his subsequent recordings. In the late 1960s, many American artists including John Lee Hooker toured Mali. Ali initially thought Hooker was playing Malinian music, little did he realize that American Blues was so deeply rooted in Malian music. Many Western reporters actually gave Ali the nickname “The John Lee Hooker of Mali,” which Ali didn’t like at all, despite his great respect for Hooker.
This was one of the most interesting things for me to discover on “Savane” as well as his other recordings—to grow up knowing blues, not having a clue about music from Mali, then discovering that one style preceeds the other. Much of Ali’s music reminds me of the American Blues I’m used to, a lot of the same rhythms, feelings. It’s relaxed, slow, driving, explosive, pensive, etc. I love hearing a lot of the underproduced clicks and pops of the stringed instruments, it’s real gritty.
Artist: Ali Farka Touré
Album: Savane
Label: World Circuit
Released: 2006
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Tagged as: africa,
blues,
fulfulde,
mali,
songhay,
tamasheq
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