Womad

Toumani Diabaté

The kora king not just of Mali but of the entire world

The Indian sitar has Ravi Shankar and the African kora has Toumani Diabaté. Still in his early forties, Diabaté has been the foremost player of the harp-like kora for more than 20 years and his virtuosity and versatility on the instrument is astounding. In addition to his unchallenged role as the leading exponent of Malian traditional music, he has collaborated with the flamenco group Ketama, the American bluesman Taj Mahal and musical polymath Damon Albarn, as well as appearing on Bjork's 2007 album Volta. On top of his groundbreaking solo work (he recorded the first-ever album of unaccompanied kora playing), he also leads the Grammy-winning Symmetric Orchestra, a thrilling big band ensemble fusing traditional and electric instruments with whom he appeared at last year's WOMAD. His record of earlier this year, the solo Mande Variations recorded it's claimed in under two hours, prompted ecstatic superlatives from all quarters - as The Independent had it, "never has the Malian kora harp sounded so beautiful".

Biog by Nigel Williamson