Ali Farka Touré, R. I. P.

Mali's proto-bluesman dead at 66. I loved his guitar, true—but I really loved his phrasing as a singer. If you haven't heard his duet with kora-player Toumani Duabaté, you're missing one of the great records of this century.

COMMENTS
Buddha's picture

You can say all you want about audiophiles being gearheads, but you and I know it's really all about the music. Mr. Toure wasn't about hi fi, he was an artist," and here we are as ""audiophiles"" mourning the loss of his art and existance while basically no other American citizens outside the music and hi fi crowd will have even heard of him. My love of music lead me to hi fi", not the other way around. That's the essence of what we chase. So, thanks for being a fellow audiophile and loving Mr. Toure's music along with me. Ali made my world better. So does hi fi - it's all part of the same goo, and we are lucky enough to have it in common! Cheers to you, I bet we both played a little of his music at the same time yesterday. Imagine, a hobby that provides synchronicity from 3,000 miles away. Awesome. That would make Ali Farka Toure happy, I bet.

Wes Phillips's picture

Amen," Buddha.I was struck by his humility in referring to himself as a farmer. That would have been like Muddy Waters referring to himself as a ""tractor driver.""

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