The world has lost a significant musical ambassador for the of west Africa – the virtuoso player, composer, and collaborator from Mali, . He died on 19 July, just short of his 59th birthday, at the peak of his career.
Author
Roderic Knight
Professor of Ethnomusicology Emeritus, Oberlin College and Conservatory
When Toumani was born in Bamako in 1965, neither his surname Diabaté or his instrument, the , an iconic 21-stringed African harp, were familiar to anyone outside the .
By the time Toumani passed, his father Sidiki Diabaté Sr had been known as “the king of the kora” and Toumani himself was world famous, representing the same mastery of the kora as his father but infusing his compositions with improvisation and with contemporary influences, collaborating with artists from a wide range of similar music traditions around the world. His son Sidiki Jr’s star would be on the rise.
Kora players like the Diabatés have emerged from a centuries old tradition, the jelis or (historians, storytellers and musicians) of west Africa. He could trace his family line back to the time when the Mande empire (1226-1670) controlled part of west Africa, over 70 generations ago.
As a scholar of the people, I Toumani Diabaté’s music and influence for decades and join Malians in celebrating his astonishing contemporary legacy.
Early years
When Toumani was only seven, in 1971, the Mali government released a set of six vinyl disks, , which featured the most renowned professional musicians of the day. One of them was his father. Following in his father’s footsteps, Toumani was destined to rise to fame.
He first travelled abroad in 1987 to perform as a member of his father’s ensemble at a festival in London organised by scholar and musician . By this time the classic Mande music, known as , had become more widely known to the world through numerous album releases and tours by musicians.
Jaliyaa
Jaliyaa is a kind of music centered on courtly praise for the achievements of heroes past and present. It’s typically sung by powerful male and female voices and accompanied by the kora, the (a slender lute), and the , a xylophone. Until the mid-1900s, jaliyaa was a profession pursued almost exclusively as an inherited family tradition, with the names Diabaté, Kouyaté and Sissoko (Suso) being the most familiar. The audience was mostly defined by the leading families in Mande history, who served as patrons of the music.
Toumani was born into this tradition at a time when waves of change were coming, opening up both the profession and the audiences. He rode at the top of this wave. After his 37-year career, if anyone has heard of the kora, the name Diabaté, or the Mande people, it is very likely that it is from something Toumani had achieved.
Improvisation and collaboration
Toumani chose not to sing, but to concentrate on the potential for improvisatory beauty that the kora itself represents. Having learned the traditional repertoire – basically a long list of song accompaniments that can also be played as solo instrumental pieces – he focused his attention on his own style of flowing improvisation (creating music spontaneously). And on how the resulting sound might lend itself to collaboration with musicians from other improvisatory traditions of the world.
His tireless curiosity led him to 14 commercial releases – from his straightforward 1988 solo album , to his last, , a 2023 collaboration with the Iranian musician .
In between were collaborations with flamenco musicians, US blues guitarist , US jazz trombonist , Brazilian poet , Brazilian rock guitarist , and US banjo virtuoso .
He also produced many albums with fellow Mande musicians, most notably , , , his son , and his own ensemble, the . He even recorded an with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Global legacy
Toumani’s achievements have been duly celebrated, with , recognition as a UN for drawing attention to the HIV/Aids crisis through his music, and an .
His legacy will be the dual accomplishments of being a virtuoso traditional kora player and also a leader in the development of international music styles through his good-hearted collaborations with so many other musicians. As British journalist Robin Denselow has , Toumani and his achievements now occupy our heads as much as we might remember for his promotion of Indian music in the late 1900s.
Toumani, the kora, the Mande people – we now know these as familiar words and sounds, thanks to Toumani.
Roderic Knight does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
