Pages tagged “toumani diabate”

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Toumani Diabaté: The Mandé Variations

Mali’s reigning musical magician uncorks another genie from his bottleIf the only reason Western pop fans know anything about Malian music or genius-level kora player Toumani Diabaté is because of world-beat hitchhikers such as Blur’s Damon Albarn (whose 2002 Oxfam benefit release Mali Music includes collaborations with Diabaté and several of his master-level countrymen), then shame on us all.  The kora is a 21-string harp fashioned from an African bottle gourd, cut in half and then fitted with cow skin to create a resonator. Players at Diabaté’s level of accomplishment are capable of making the instrument sound as much like...  read more

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: In the Name of the Father

After 40-some years leading boundary-breaking South African vocal troupe Ladysmith Black Mambazo, group founder Joseph Shabalala is stepping down and turning the reins over to his son Tommy Shabalala, who now joins a notable group of African sons carrying on the work of their esteemed musical patriarchs...  read more