Toumani Diabaté

Scion of a centuries-old Malian griot lineage, Toumani Diabaté commanded the 21-string West African kora with unmatched authority. At ease within ancestral Malian forms yet eager to join forces with players from far-flung traditions, he rose to global recognition via a string of distinguished solo recordings and joint projects. Largely self-directed from the start, he soaked up the playing of his renowned father Sidiki Diabaté alongside the Western-tinged Bamako groups that flourished in the 1970s. The 1988 release Kaira established Diabaté as a concert draw far beyond Mali’s borders. Viewing musical risk as essential to the modern griot’s role, he later cultivated singular partnerships that ranged from the flamenco ensemble Ketama to Blur’s Damon Albarn, blues master Taj Mahal, and banjo pioneer Béla Fleck.

Although born into a musical household on August 10, 1965, Diabaté learned the kora without formal lessons, since his father’s touring schedule kept him away for long stretches. He cultivated an approach anchored in Malian heritage yet receptive to jazz and flamenco currents, eventually seeking out international partners who shared his experimental bent, including a notable Amsterdam appearance alongside a classical harpist.

Kaira, issued in 1989, became the first solo kora album ever committed to disc. Its spare, evocative textures and daring improvisations turned Diabaté into a national figure at home while generating worldwide demand for his performances. That same year the cross-cultural ensemble Songhai, uniting Diabaté with Ketama and British bassist Danny Thompson, unveiled its own well-received debut. Over the ensuing six years he appeared at festivals and venues across continents, steadily expanding appreciation for Malian music and the kora itself. In 1995 a follow-up Songhai album appeared alongside Djelika, a recording on which Diabaté assembled Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon and ngoni specialist Basekou Kouyate.

After several years focused on performances inside Mali, he issued the 1999 duet project New Ancient Strings with fellow kora virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko, a homage to their fathers’ earlier album Ancient Strings. Also in 1999 came the widely admired Kulanjan, pairing Diabaté, Sissoko, and singer Kassé-Mady Diabaté with Taj Mahal in a transatlantic blues encounter. The participants toured internationally later that year to support the record. In 2000 Diabaté joined Damon Albarn for sessions and concerts during the singer’s OXFAM-sponsored visit to Mali. The 2005 album In the Heart of the Moon, another partnership with guitarist Ali Farka Touré, earned Diabaté the Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album. The following year he released Boulevard de l’Independence with his Symmetric Orchestra, both projects emerging from the same Nick Gold-produced Hotel Mandé Sessions.

As recognition increased, Diabaté became a regular presence on the global festival circuit, performing at WOMAD, Glastonbury, Sziget, and numerous additional events. His 2008 solo effort The Mandé Variations drew widespread critical praise, and in 2010 he reunited with Ali Farka Touré for Ali & Toumani. That year producer Nick Gold also enlisted him for Afrocubism, a Cuba-Mali summit recalling the spirit of the 1997 Buena Vista Social Club. Toumani & Sidiki, a 2014 collection of unaccompanied kora duets, paired Diabaté with his son Sidiki Diabaté; the two collaborated again in 2017 on the eclectic Lamomali alongside French rock vocalist -M-. In 2020 Diabaté and Béla Fleck revealed plans for the joint album Ripple Effect, slated for March release within the multi-disc compilation Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions, which also encompassed the Grammy-winning Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: The Africa Sessions and The Africa Sessions, Vol. 2. Toumani Diabaté died on July 19, 2024, at age 58.