Ali and Toumani
- Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate
- World Circuit/Nonesuch
Ali Farka Toure was dying when this album was being recorded. Perhaps, speculates producer Nick Gold (of Buena Vista Social Club fame), this is why the guitarist's performance is "deeper, heavier and more searching" than on the Grammy-winning In the Heart of the Moon. As Toure's musical partner, kora virtuoso Diabate aptly puts it, this is a "wiser" album. What that wisdom sounds like is a kind of musical state of grace. There is an uncanny empathy between Toure and Diabate, as though their two distinct Malian traditions were destined to be intertwined in just this way. Some familiar songs from previous albums are tenderly reworked (one, the swaying Sabu Yerkoy, reveals the waning of Toure's vocal powers). And although there are subtle and respectful interjections from others, (including the late Cuban bassist, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez), ultimately the album is accurately named - it's a tribute to the extraordinary musical understanding between "Ali and Toumani."