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Vieux Farka Touré
It cannot be easy living in the shadow of Africa’s greatest bluesman Ali Farka Touré. Yet, Brahima Aly Farka Touré, aka Vieux Farka Touré, has managed to impose his precocious talents on the guitar, thanks to a remarkably assured debut album. On this eponymous CD, Vieux has added elements of rock and reggae to the Sahara blues his father pioneered. He has been assisted in his musical quest by kora master Toumani Diabaté. His international career took a further promising step with his showcase appearance at the 2007 WOMEX. It was against the expressed will of his father that the adolescent Brahima embarked on a musical career. After an induction by his cousin Bocoum in 1994, he showed an uncanny ability on the calabash and drums. His illustrious father hoped for a safer career for his son, and tried to force him into the military. But Vieux was as stubborn as his dad, and rightfully earned his nickname “Farka” (donkey) by persevering with his passion for the percussions. He continued to practice in secret before enrolling at the National Arts Institute in the Malian capital in 1999.
Within years, he acquired a reputation as a virtuoso guitar player, able to ally traditional Fulani rhythms with modern rock and blues. His reputation spread and reached the ears of the Malian griot and kora wizard Toumani Diabaté. Diabaté invited Vieux to join his ensemble and took him on tours of France and South Africa. “Ali Farka Touré told me before dying “He is your son, take him, keep him,” said the kora player in a 2006 interview. Indeed, Vieux and Diabaté finally persuaded Ali to stop resisting the wishes of his prodigal son, and encourage his musical ambitions.
Six years after starting his music diploma Vieux hooked up with his American friend Eric Herman and talked him into producing a debut album together. Herman’s label Modiba Productions is dedicated to the empowerment of Africa in the economic and social arenas. The two musicians embarked Diabaté and Ali Farka Touré on this inaugural work, and the two veterans contribute two outstanding tracks each. Despite his cancer, Ali recorded his final songs for his son, a symbolic gesture aimed at helping his son further his own musical cause. The February 2007 release by World Village and Modiba Productions impressed cognoscenti and neophytes alike. It features other Malian stars such as Bassekou Kouyaté, Hassy Sarré, Issa Bamba and Seckou Touré.
Like his father, Vieux remains deeply attached to his roots in the north Malian town of Niafunke. A tenth of the proceeds from his debut record went to the campaign to fight malaria in this desert region.
January 2007
Daniel Brown
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