Toumani Diabaté – The Mande Variations

The Mande Variations – Toumani Diabaté

By Chris Peken

I may have grown up wishing i could play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix (and bat like Don Bradman), but i have graduated to wishing i could play the kora like Toumani Diabaté. The kora is a 31-string African instrument most akin to the Western harp, and as a 72nd generation kora player Toumani is considered one of its finest exponents. The Mande Variations is only his second solo album – amidst a host of collaboartions with everyone from Ali Farka Touré to Björk along with his longtime project the Symmetric Orchestra – and features Toumani’s kora playing unadorned by other instruments. As such you will find no better example of the beauty of the kora and its remarkable versatility. Hear Toumani play with the speed of Eddie Van Halen, or caress and stroke the strings with the fluency of John Williams; he is orchestral, classical, jazz-tinged, blues rooted and tradional. While Variations honours Toumani’s roots it is far from a traditional album, going so far as to quote from Morricone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on the final track Cantelowes. Hearing Toumani Diabaté play is like listening to the most intricate and beautiful of tapestries being woven, something of which one can never tire.

**** 1/2