Having a famous musician for a father can be both a blessing and a curse: just ask Ziggy or Damien, Bebel, Rufus, Sean or Julian, or Jakob. The shadow of one's father might be a burden for some Western musicians, but West African tradition tends to value one's familial ancestry in the development and maintenance of an artist's mission. Witness the most commonly known example, Femi Kuti, who manages to honor his father's name while broadening the scope of his offerings.
Perhaps as famous as Fela was the great Ali Farka Touré, whose last recorded album (he passed away in March of 2006), In The Heart of the Moon, won a Grammy Award. That makes for a tough act to follow if you happen to be Touré's son. But Vieux Farka Touré has recorded a brilliant self-titled debut album, and will visit Ithaca's State Theatre this Saturday, Nov. 10 with Tinariwen for a show dubbed the "Party from the Desert." If you are a music fan and know only one thing about Mali, it likely includes Talking Timbuktu - the album Ali recorded with Ry Cooder; here are two others for your consideration.
"Vieux," which translates as "old" in French, is actually a younger child, but his honorific nickname was bestowed on him by his grandfather. Having witnessed the difficulties his father faced in the music business, Touré studied as an artist in secret - beginning with the calabash, a dried gourd drum common in Mali, before turning to the guitar. He began at the renowned Arts Institute in Bamako, and later met the Wesleyan graduate and founder of MODIBA Records, Eric Herman. Initially interested in having Vieux contribute a song or two to a compilation, Herman quickly realized Vieux would be better served recording an entire album.
The result is a brilliant blend of traditional Malian music and modern compositions. It is only strengthened by the fact that both world-renown kora player Toumani Diabaté and Vieux's father Ali perform on a number of tracks, including the last two recorded performances by Ali, "Tabara" and "Diallo." Vieux dedicated two songs on the album to Diabaté, who served as an important mentor and also performs on the album (in what may be the album's high point, Vieux's guitar playing accompanies his mentor's gorgeous kora). Corresponding by email, Vieux noted that "[Diabaté] has always been there for me, as a musician giving me advice and helping in all negotiations - but also with my family and domestic questions." You can hear that love and respect in Vieux's music.
"Courage," the most modern of the songs, was written and produced by Herman and sounds much more like rock than the rest of the album. Vieux considers the song an extension of the tradition from which he comes. "I see my music as part of a tree: traditional Malian music is like the trunk, and my music is a branch on that trunk, and every new style or technique I throw in is just a new leaf on that branch."
Vieux made a point of noting his respect for his tour-mates, Tinariwen: "I [appreciate] where they come from and what they have gone through. It's really wonderful to work together too, with our different styles and techniques."
In many ways, Tinariwen is a more direct musical descendant of Ali. Ibrahim "Abaraybone" Ag Alhabib's guitar playing echoes the elder Toure's Songhai style - a sort of analog to the playing style of American blues players like Son House. Their album, Aman Iman has roots in blues, rock and afro-pop. That is not to say that Tinariwen shun tradition; the lyrics on "Aman Iman" are in tifinar, the language of the Touareg people.
Tinariwen, which is Tamashek for "empty spaces," began as an acoustic ensemble in a Libyan refugee camp in 1982. Censored in Libya for their highly political lyrics, Tinariwen's members are from the nomadic Tuaregs (translated as "abandoned by the gods"). Throughout the '70s and '80s, tribes, clans and families were displaced by draught and political strife. Many sought work and refuge in neighboring Algeria and then Libya. When peace finally came to the southern Sahara in 1996, the family that is Tinariwen refused offers of reintegration into the Malian army or administration.
Thanks to a portentous meeting with the French band Lo'Jo in Bamako in 1998, Tinariwen's music started to spread beyond their southern Saharan home, slowly at first, but now with increasing momentum. Starting with a brief tour of France in 1999 and that first Festival in the Desert, Tinariwen followed the tour with their debut CD, Radio Tisdas. Amassakoul followed, along with tours of Europe and the U.S. Their recent album, Aman Iman, translates as "Water is Life." Reaching a new height of popularity, Tinariwen opened for the Rolling Stones in Europe this summer.
Both bands are uncompromising in their music and message. And both bands honor the tradition of their fathers while pushing the boundaries of what it means to be Malian. Their "party in the desert" is not to be missed.
