Malian artist Toumani Diabaté died this Friday, July 19 at the age of 58, his son, Sidiki Diabaté, announced on social media.
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The Malian artist, who died at the age of 58, had been hospitalized for several days in Bamako. It is God who gives life and who gives death and it is to him that we return. My confidant, my pillar, my guide, my best friend, my dear dad is gone forever “, announced Sidiki Diabate on social media this Friday.
A great kora player, and from a family of famous griots, Toumani Diabaté spent his life defending traditional music, throughout his career enriched by some fifteen albums.
Born into a family where music is passed down from father to son, his father Sidiki Diabate is nicknamed the King of the Kora and is famous throughout West Africa. Little Toumani began playing at the age of 5. At 13, he was part of the Koulikoro ensemble which won the prize for the best traditional orchestra at the Mali Biennale. He then joined his country’s national orchestra.
Throughout his career, he has multiplied collaborations. He notably accompanied the singer Kandia Kouyaté, played with Ballake Sissoko, another Kora virtuoso, and Ali Farka Toure, with whom he produced the album “In the Heart of the Moon” in 2005. He also won several Grammy Awards with this collaboration.
He also crossed West African music with the blues thanks to his meeting with Taj Mahal and collaborated with Bjork the Icelandic star and Damon Albarn, thus mixing the centuries-old Mandingo tradition with Western music.
” My brother and friend, the Kora virtuoso and outstanding musical arranger, Toumani Diabaté has just left us. An Ambassador of Mali, an Ambassador of Africa has just left us. My condolences to all his family ” shared Senegalese musician Youssou Ndour on X.
” This is a huge loss for Malian music. Toumani was a kora virtuoso who amazed us for years. “, reacted on RFI Mory Touré, specialist in African music, cultural presenter and correspondent for Couleurs Tropicales in Mali.
I am lost for words. It is sad. I do not know what to say, he has done so much for kore and African music. He is a monument that has just left.
Musician Ballaké Sissoko
Read on RFI MusiqueThe biography of Toumani Diabaté