Ali Farka Touré
A master of Malian traditional music with the spirit of the great American
bluesmen running through his veins, Ali Farka Toure was a world music legend who
earned the nickname "the African John Lee Hooker". Born on the banks of the
River Niger in a small village called Kanau in North Mali, he built his first
single-stringed "djerkel" guitar as a 12-year-old, before Mali's independence in
1960 led to a government policy promoting the arts and allowing Toure to work
with a 117-person troupe representing the Niafunke region. As his reputation
grew, he left behind his life as a poor,...
