“Diabaté’s two-handed flurries flow like a
clear, life-giving stream. ”
–Boston Globe

Toumani Diabaté is the living voice of one of the most beautiful sounds in the world: the African kora, a 21-string West African harp that has been played by griots in the diabaté line for 71 generations. Born in Mali, he has collaborated with artists as diverse as Björk, Taj Mahal, Roswell Rudd and Randy Weston. His latest album, Mandé Variations, is a solo tour de force featuring his inventions inspired by traditional melodies and storytelling traditions of the Mandé people. He appears with a spellbinding group of african virtuosos.

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Toumani Diabaté is the living voice of one of the most beautiful sounds in the world: the kora, a 21-string West African harp that has been played by griots in the Diabaté line for 71 generations. Toumani’s father, the revered Sidiki Diabaté, made the first recording on the instrument, and Toumani absorbed knowledge of the kora by watching him play. But growing up in Mali’s capital Bamako in the ’70s and ’80s, Toumani also had his ears open to the sounds on the streets. American soul music was all the rage, and he listened closely to everyone from Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin to Jimmy Smith and Sly Stone.

A close friend and frequent musical partner with Mali’s late guitar legend Ali Farka Touré, Diabaté won a Best Traditional World Music Album Grammy in 2006 for their collaboration In the Heat of the Moon. While dedicated to preserving the traditional musical forms of the Mandé people, he is also the kora’s leading ambassador. A brilliant improviser, he has collaborated with a stellar array of artists, appearing on Bjork’s album Volta, jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd’s MALIcool, and Taj Mahal’s Kulanjan. As a bandleader, Diabaté promotes a transnational vision reflecting the ancient Manding empire, which encompassed a huge swath of territory from the 13th through the 17th century. His latest album, Mandé Variations, is a solo tour de force featuring his inventions inspired by traditional melodies of the Mandé people.

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