In the Heart of the Moon

Talking Timbuktu Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity ...	Savane Savane, the great African guitarist and bluesman Ali Farka Touré's final solo studio album, was recorded in his native Mali toward the end of his life, when the artist knew his days were numbered. He spent his last years in his home village of Niafunké, concentrating on farmin...	New Ancient Strings Back in the early '70s, a recording by kora masters Sidiki Diabate and Djelimadi Sissoko called Cordes Anciennes first brought this rich acoustic music of Mali to the world. More than 20 years later, their sons, the now world-famous Toumani Diabate and the junior Ballake Sissoko,...	The Mande Variations The Mand, Variations is Malian legend Toumani Diabat,'s first solo recording in 20 years and it is a stunningly beautiful, immediately accessible blend of traditional melodies, original compositions and breathtaking improvisations from the world-renowned virtuoso of the kora, the...	Boulevard de l'Independance Toumani Diabate, scion of one of Mali's oldest hereditary musical dynasties, was born into a few-centuries-worth of hard-acts-to-follow. But his output continues his father Sidiki's life-long exploration of the manifold possibilities of the kora, West Africa's glorious 21-string...
Kaira This is a groundbreaking work establishing the 21-string kora as a solo instrument of great subtlety and range. Toumani Diabate is a virtuoso player and he delves into the classical West African kora repertoire with his masterful technique. The result is music that is both absolu...	Aman Iman: Water is Life When you hear this music clan -- group just doesn't seem to be the right designation for a band of nomad desert musicians/soldiers -- a listener can hear the calm of the desert night air and the serenity of the musicians who live there. The Taureg people truly seem to be of the ...	Moffou Salif Keita made his name with Rail Band and Les Ambassadeurs, but he gradually veered away from re-Africanized Latin tunes to explore his Mande birthright. Then, in the late 1980s, he released Soro, a potent blend of traditional sources, Western pop, and savvy studio electronica...	Dimanche a Bamako Having issued a handful of excellent Afro-rock albums on small independent labels in the last few years, which have attracted attention within the world music community, Amadou and Miriam are poised to break out with Dimanche A Bamako, arguably the best album of a career that goe...	Amassakoul It's a long way from the Mississippi Delta to the Sahara Desert. But somehow the snaking blues lines and hypnotic guitar figures of bluesman like John Lee Hooker resonated with the members of Tinariwen, who set aside traditional Touareg instruments two decades ago to play electri...

Awesome! Really grows on you!
This is an exquisite album from Ali Farka Toure that presents some of his best work. It grows on you when listening to it again and again. Although other albums are perhaps better known and have some catchy tracks (e.g., "Talking Timbuktu" and "The River"), this album is almost perfect. "Kadi Kadi" and "Gomni" are especially good tracks; "Monsieur le Maire de Niafunké" has an engaging bass riff that stands out. We were very fortunate to have had Ali Farka Toure among us, albeit for all-too-short a time. He lives on forever in this music.

Amazing album, amazing music
The music from this album will take you to another world. What's even more impressive is when you find out the two musicians recorded the music unrehearsed.

Brilliant
This album is brilliant - a good choice for those new to Toure's artistry, and those already devoted fans.

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FROM MALI
A GREAT COLLABORATION BETWEEN ALI FARKA TOURE AND TOUMANI DIABETE. I HAVE ALMOST ALL OF TOURE'S ALBUMS, AND THIS ONE REALLY STANDS OUT, IT IS UNREHEARSED SPONTANEOUS JAMMING WITH DIABETE, WHO PLAYS THE KORA. I WAS INTRODUCED TO THE SOUND OF THAT INSTRUMENT ON THE CD "MUSIC FROM THE HEARTS OF THE MASTERS" WITH JACK DEJOHNNETTE AND FODAY MUSA SUSO, WHICH IS YET ANOTHER OUTSTANDING RELEASE. THE KORA IS A 21 STRINGED INSTRUMENT THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN A GUITAR AND A HARP. THIS IS A TRULY EXCEPTIONAL, VERY MUSICAL CD THAT ANY MUSICIAN OR MUSIC APPRECIATOR WILL ENJOY A LOT. TWO SUPERLATIVE MUSICIANS.

Music...as good as it can ever get
I read from one review that not even 5 million stars could rate this album. I agree. If you are a musician, and you know what it gets to play what these 2 wise monsters of music play, you know that what you have in front of you requires technique, inspiration, and lots of wisdom... I have heard this CD a million times, and every time I listen to it I just stop whatever I am doing and see myself traveling in some magic world of feelings, conversations. Have you heard "Mamadou Boutiquier"? What a perfect masterpiece! How could in the earth someone just get together, play, and create such a beauty? How can two people, without rehearsing, who have only played once together, who play different music traditions, create something like that? How the song evolves, build its momentum through a progressive intensity, cries out so loud the power of music? And Hawa Dolo? Ali Farka's song, not one of my favorites, reaches a different dimension in this version. The nostalgic power of this song is difficult to equal. Kala, Debe, and Kadi Kadi's solos... my gosh! I don't know, I listen to this music and I feel overwhelmed with humility, with admiration to how much these two musicians must know about life, about human beings, about the strings inside us, to do what they just did. Remember that this is not an improvisation, as Ali says in the cover. They both knew what they were playing, even though they had never played together. They understood a language that for most of us is a mystery. Thank you Ali Farka and Toumani, the beauty of your work is so inspiring!