Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! out next week here. Picking up good reviews.
I was blown away by Toumani Diabate last week. I've heard a couple of his things on The Word samplers, with the Symmetric Orchestra, saw a bit of him live at Glastonbury with Bjork, etc. Great sound. He plays the kora, 21 string African harp with a round body attached, like a lute. The latest Word mag contains a solo piece, Elyne Road. I was open-mouthed when I first heard it. I didn't realise just how beuaitful the instrument is until hearing this, nor what an incredible musician he is. The piece was inspired by Kingston Town, an old reggae classic that he knew from UB40 (see
here).
I could write a page of superlatives at how moving and perfect this piece is, but words don't do it justice. I have to get the LP - out in the shops now, to get more of it. The song isn't on Hype, but others are, plus videos, etc.:
http://hypem.com/search/toumani/1/
The LP's title 'The Mande Variations' links it to a classical tradition, and on first hearing, I wouldn't have known straight off that it was Malian in origin - it seems to fuse a classical harp sensibility with a Mali spirit, and although you wouldn't recognise Kingston Town from it, once you know that, it figures too. Whole swathes of musical history seem to be bound up in this one piece.
There's a great interview with him in the latest Word too. David Hepworth visits him in Bamako and gives a good impression of his life (100 dependents, or so), ending with a magical description of Toumani playing Elyne Road to him alone in the garden in late afternoon, and, how he'd never been so close to someone who could play an instrument so well. I would probably have been in floods of tears in such an extraordinary situation.
Can't recommend this piece enough. I'm sure the whole thing is worth hearing - will report back - keen to hear his other recordings too, solo and with others.
