Artist: Ali Farka Toure

The dual release of Ali Farka Toure's most popular and enduring albums will come as good news for fans of his music, and will hopefully spawn many more devotees. Since their original release in 1979 and 1988, they've been two of the most in demand CD issues, and this coupling can only be a good thing. The two albums, both originally released eponymously and so named Red and Green due to their sleeve colours, are held in high regard by world music fans and rightly so. Essentially both albums follow the same template; the intimately recorded sound of Ali Farka Toure, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, a second vocal and minimal percussion, but weaving irresistible melodic delights. It initially may sound foreign (in every sense of the word) to the ear of those familiar only with Western music, but perseverance reaps rewards for sure. Any novies to the genre who were taken with Damon Albarn's Mali Music project will find much to love here, though the sound is far more sparse, almost sounding improvised in places, and the atmosphere this projects is certainly appealing. In short, an excellent release that should open a few ears, and is recommended unive...
The roots of Ali Farka Toure, 2007-05-10
Unfortunately, Ali Farka Toure is no longer with us, but with beautifully packaged box sets such as Red & Green you can revisit the seminal recordings of the Malian music legend. These were the recordings that first launched Ali Farka Toure until the world stage. The albums were discovered in a bargain bin of an African music shop in Paris, and the rest as they say is history. Toure went onto record with Ry Cooder, Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Taj Mahal, among others, but here you get a chance to hear a young musician delving into the deep history of Malian folk music, which sounds so much like the Delta Blues, that one no longer has to wonder about the connection. Ali Farka Toure chose to turn his back and the much more popular Afrobeat music of the day and stick to his roots. He very well could have languished in anonymity had not these recordings been made available to a wider public. The liner notes provide English and French translations of the songs, as well as a short piece on the discovery of these now famous albums, which are presented as slip cases for the 2 CD's and handsomely packaged in the slip cover that is shown. The only thing better would be to have the original vinyls.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure

a wonderful piece of music, 2009-12-23
I've been looking for new sounds and to broaden my musical horizons for some time.. this album is immediately engaging, sensual, mysterious and hypnotic.. if you're a lover of quality world music then buy this

Artist: Ali Toure Farka & Toumani Diab

Enchanting, 2009-12-27
I had listened to both Farka Toure and Diabate before, each respectively on their own individual albums. But combined, this is breathtakingly melodic and calming experience.
To hit back at those who think it bland, they clearly did not understand the intention of the recording: a natural, semi-improvised session. As proper musicians play.
This is great for those who are beginners to African (guitar) music, as it's a fantastic double whammy of esteemed guitar talent.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure

This self-titled debut is an amazing collection, spotlighting the Malian guitarist in his full solo acoustic glory for a beautiful, intimate music that recalls American blues. The beauty of Ali Farka Toure lives in Toure's light, nimble touch on the strings as well as his flexible, reedy voice, which both perfectly complement his gentle, ambling rhythmic style. Tastier highlights include the cantering "Tchigi Fo", with haunting call-and-response sung in Songhai, and the oddly pastoral "Kadi Kadi", a sweet folk song about an encounter with a young woman and her gift of a gold chain. The Arabic praise song "Bakoye" is a comely love song that pulses with Ali's low, bubbling fingerpicking over which his voice soars in a lovely bucolic melody. "Amandrai", in both a studio and live version, is the kind of bluesy tune that's made Toure famous and earned him comparisons to Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. And in later releases, we indeed witness the Malian master collaborating with such Western artists as the Chieftains and Taj Mahal, but this loner of a debut features the guitarist's talents in a quietly understated, purely African light. --Karen Karleski
If you like blues guitar and African music..., 2008-01-16
This album is definitely worth a listem if you like blues guitar and have an interest in African music, although its not particularly difficult to appreciate the subtle simple and at times hypnotic blues guitar that fills this album. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he is working with just a handful of very simple traditional african acoustic instruments and has limited himself to a particular mood of music (i.e. blues) Toure manages to put fresh and interesting emotions into each of the tracks on this album. I would say that is due to his skills as a musician and a vocalist - a combination that - if you think about it - is very rare in the English speaking music scene. Imagine the guitar work of Eric Clapton or John Lee Hooker (with whom Toure is very often compared) with the spine-tinglingly emotional voice of Peter Gabriel on something like "Don't Give Up", and you'll get an idea of what Toure achieves in this album, and you might understand why the locals loved him so much that he went on to become Mayor in his home town in Mali

Artist: Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate

astounding soundscape, 2010-07-18
a beautiful accomplished emotive haunting work ably accompanied by Toumani Diabate that should be Ali Farka Toure's epitaph.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure

The source of the Niger River? The source of the blues? Ali Farka Toure is one of the great African guitarists--one who has experimented in the most subtle of ways, seeking inspiration but never creating fusions with other popular music styles. The Source is more roots and less fronds than his Ry Cooder recording Talking Timbuktu; this earlier recording did find him working with Taj Mahal and harmonica player Rory McLeod, but mostly this is a recording with his amazing band, calabash players Amadou Sisse and Hamma Sankare and conga player Oumar Toure, plus a chorus of singers. The emphasis is on the guitar of Toure and the source of the music, the soil of Mali itself. --Louis Gibson
Ali Farka Toure's best album, 2006-04-07
I agree with johnnylips' review (below) - but would like to add that I think this is the best of Toure's albums. As rich as a good Kente cloth, as beautiful as a desert sunset, eternal as the river Niger - plus rhythms as funky as they get. Music that goes straight to the heart. Effortless riffs, improvisations upon simple themes - deceptively simple, that is. This is rich rich music!
I was sad to hear that Ali 'Farka' Toure died earlier this year, but I am very grateful to him for leaving Niafunke, Mali, and the world at large a wonderful musical heritage.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure

This 1990 recording contains one of the best African blues tunes ever recorded, and a classic Ali Farka Toure moment. As the electric guitar roars in at the opening, punctured by a darting harmonica line, "Heygana" lays out the roots and branches of the blues in its journey from west Africa to the Americas, and more importantly, back again. Sung in the Songhai language, pushed by a vaguely reggae groove and pulled along by a sometimes idiosyncratic percussion line on a calabash, it pretty well epitomizes what Toure is about. The sound is stripped down, with the guitar and voice working a bare minimum groove. The calabash clicks, a thick stringed ngoni adds some punch, and a few tracks feature Toure on the njarka (fiddle). In addition to Rory McLeod's harmonica, there is one piece with The Chieftains' Seane Keane and Kevin Conneff on fiddle and bodhran (Irish goatskin drum), and a marvelous duet with saxophonist Steve Williamson that adds a little sideways R&B. The River is one of Toure's most straightforward recordings made in the decade after the light of his international fame had first shone. --Louis Gibson
Not from the middle of nowhere - from the heart of Africa!, 2006-01-04
Niafunke, where Mr Toure lives, may be a small village not far from Timbouctou - but this is not just music from his heart, but from the heart of Africa. And it goes straight to *my* heart. And to my feet as well - this is music that moves you, and that makes you move!
He is a master of the guitar, and the effortless uptempo licks combine with the fast calabash to make funky bluesy but above all African music. And man, what music it is. This must be one of his best albums. Just listen to the first number, Heygana, which sets the tone for the others. It's fast, it's funky, it is very Ali Farka Toure, and his voice (which has a curiously innocent sound to me) sets it off to something which is close to perfection. Bless the man and his band, and play it again!

Artist: Ali Farka Toure

The extraordinarily talented Malian guitarist and singer-songwriter Ali Farka Toure will probably have come to the attention of most western music lovers through his 1994 release Talking Timbuktu, which featured Ry Cooder. Since that time he has stayed almost exclusively in Mali, working on his farm. He felt that touring and working abroad were undermining the bond with his homeland and the productive work which were central to both his happiness and artistic creativity. Thus Niafunke--the name of his village--was recorded on site using only friends and local musicians. The sound is generally more stripped down than Talking Timbuktu, but Ali Farka Toure's gorgeously ornate yet flowing guitar style still guides you every step of the way and the extraordinary space and texture of the music is still as overwhelming as ever. The difference lies deeper--as he himself says, "this record is more real, more authentic". Both albums have soul, but this one required no translation of musical forms or explanations--it speaks pure and straight from the heart of all the musicians involved. --James Swift
A Master class from Toure's Desert Home., 2009-03-14
This happens to be one of my most cherished CDs. Listening to the haunting and beautiful music from "The King of the Desert 'Blues' Singers" Ali Farka Toure you realise what a sad loss he is to the world of music. How tragic that his life was cut so short when he was at the peak of his powers. One of my deep regrets was missing him performing live in London shortly before his death.

I must be honest here and say I only have two of his CDs. This one and "Savane". Niafunke is a remote village on the river Niger in Mali where Toure was born and lived. He even recorded "Niafunke" in this village. Of the two CDs I find "Niafunke" the stronger. It has no discernible weak points and has two particularly powerful songs in Tulumba and Cousins. All his music gives off a heady scent of the desert.

Aside from visiting a museum about the Sahara in Marrakech, listening to Toure is about as close to that great desert as I am likely to get. It must have been a wonderful experience to hear the great man singing for the pleasure of himself and his friends in his desert home. That is how his very special musical gift would be best enjoyed. "Savane" was Toure's last work, and I willed it to be his best. This was not to be. "Niafunke" stands as a beautiful memory of this man and his home on the edge of the great ocean of sand.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate

Enchanting, 2009-12-27
I had listened to both Farka Toure and Diabate before, each respectively on their own individual albums. But combined, this is breathtakingly melodic and calming experience.
To hit back at those who think it bland, they clearly did not understand the intention of the recording: a natural, semi-improvised session. As proper musicians play.
This is great for those who are beginners to African (guitar) music, as it's a fantastic double whammy of esteemed guitar talent.

Artist: Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder

Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders. --Derek Rath
Brilliant, 2010-02-11
Simply brilliant! With Diaraby being the grand finale, what a combination of talents, definitaly one of the best CD's in my eclectic collection.