Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate: Ali And Toumani (+ 2 Bonustracks) auf 2 LPs

Die zweite und letzte Einspielung der Superstars des Mali-Blues; feat. Cachaíto López.
Mit ihrer ersten Kollaboration "In The Heart Of The Moon" gewannen Ali Farka Touré und Toumani Diabaté 2005 auf Anhieb einen Grammy. Doch nach dem Tod Tourés 2006 schien das vortreffliche Zusammenspiel von Gitarre und Kora ("Mojo": "The most beautiful music on earth") sich auf diese eine Platte zu beschränken. Dass es anders kommen sollte, lag an Diabaté. Der Kora-Meister hatte während der 2005er-Europatour der beiden drei Tage Aufnahmezeit in einem Londoner Studio gebucht. Mit dabei: Produzent Nick Gold, der auch schon "In The Heart ..." produzierte, sowie der 2009 gestorben kubanische Bassist Orlando Cachaíto López (Buena Vista Social Club). "Ali and Toumani" ist feiner, ist konzentrierter als der Vorgänger. Die beiden hatten nicht nur mehr Zeit für die Aufnahme, sondern kannten sich auch viel besser als bei der Session zu "In The Heart ...". Ein Kennen und Vertrauen, das den Dialog auf "Ali and Toumani" sehr positiv beeinflusste. "Ich glaube, dieses Album ist stärker und klüger", so Toumani Diabaté über eines der großen Weltmusik-Alben 2010.

Product-Information:

2010 Grammy Award Winner: Best Traditional World Music Album

Ali and Toumani—an album of duets from two of Africa’s most distinguished musicians, the late guitarist Ali Farka Touré and kora player Toumani Diabaté—was released on February 23, 2010, on World Circuit / Nonesuch Records, and won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album. In the Heart of the Moon, the duo’s first album together, won a Grammy following its 2005 release.

In a Nonesuch Store Exclusive, orders include the bonus track "Kenouna," and as with almost all CD orders placed in the Nonesuch Store, include the full album as high-quality 320 kbps MP3s available at no additional cost.

After the success of In the Heart of the Moon, Touré and Diabaté were invited to perform a series of concerts in Europe, before which Diabaté asked World Circuit’s Nick Gold to make studio time for them to record again. Gold, with Moon engineer Jerry Boys, recorded Ali and Toumani over three afternoons at Livingston Studios, London, in mid-2005. Less than a year later, Touré succumbed to a long illness and passed away.

The record includes subtle contributions from Orlando “Cachaíto” López (bass), as well as Vieux Farka Touré (congas and backing vocals), Souleye Kane (backing vocals), Ali Magasa (backing vocals), and Tim Keiper (percussion). Ali and Toumani became the last album recorded by Cachaíto Lopez as well.

Ali and Toumani culminates a long relationship between Ali Farka Touré and Nick Gold / World Circuit that includes such internationally acclaimed recordings as The Source (1991); Talking Timbuktu (1996), Touré’s Grammy-winning collaboration with Ry Cooder; Niafunke (1999); In the Heart of the Moon (2005); and Savane (2006), among other releases. After Niafunke, Touré had retired from music to devote himself to what he considered his primary vocation: cultivating the land in the Malian town after which that recording was named. He was elected mayor of Niafunke just before the Hotel Mandé Sessions began in January 2004.

Fifty-fourth in a hereditary line of master musicians and griots, Toumani Diabaté is at once revered as the guardian of an ancient musical tradition and as a bold, boundary-crossing experimentalist. He has earned acclaim for inventive solo records as well as collaborations with Björk, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, American bluesman Taj Mahal, and jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd, among others. Diabaté’s The Mandé Variations was widely celebrated including critical praise from CBS News Sunday Morning, NPR and the New York Times, among others.