Blues break: Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Touré - "Debe"

A joyful collaboration by two of Mali's, and the planet's, finest musicians.

And another, "Kala Djula," from Ali and Toumani (2010):



Ali Farka Touré was no 1%er.  He was elected mayor of Niafunké, his impoverished Malian village, in 2004 and paid the costs of a generator, sewage canals and paving projects out of his own pocket. He died in 2006.

The great Toumani Diabaté, now 47 years old, has a family heritage of kora musicians that has been traced back 71 generations. Repeat: 71. His performances have appeared regularly on these pages.