Toumani Diabate-Kora Master

Toumani Diabate is a Kora player from Mali. (The kora is a sort of African harp.)
He comes from a line of griots (traditional musicians, singers and storytellers, similar to the European bards)and has been recording since the late 1980's. (His father released what may have been the first kora album around 1970.)

I first heard of Toumani Diabate and the kora when he recorded with a group called Songhai. They combined the traditions of flamenco with Toumani's kora to produce some incredible music, and I have been a fan ever since.

His reputation has been growing internationally, in fact his latest release, The Mande Variations, was recently reviewed in the New York Times.

It is an album of solo kora, with no overdubs. The Times review used terms like "cascading counterpoint" and "filigrees...precisely weighted" in an attempt to describe the music.

It is exceptional music, and comes with my highest recommendation. (Also try listening to Songhai, or any of his other collaborations. I especially liked the album he did with Ali Farka Toure, In The Heart of The Moon.)