Synopsis:
He was born in 1939 in the village of Kanau, on the banks of the Niger
River in the cercle of Gourma Rharous in the northwestern Malian region
of Tombouctou. His family moved to the nearby village of Niafunké when
he was still an infant. He was the tenth son of his mother but the only
one to survive past infancy. "The name I was given was Ali Ibrahim, but
it's a custom in Africa to give a child a strange nickname if you have
had other children who have died", Touré was quoted as saying in a
biography on his Record Label, World Circuit Records. His nickname,
"Farka", chosen by his parents, means "donkey", an animal admired for
its tenacity and stubbornness: "Let me make one thing clear. I'm the
donkey that nobody humps on!" He was descended from the ancient military
force known as the Arma, and was ethnically tied to the Songrai
(Songhai) and Fula peoples of northern Mali. As the first African
bluesman to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré
was often known as "the African John Lee Hooker". Musically, the many
superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John
Lee Hooker's hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several
African languages, mostly Songhay, Fulfulde, Tamasheq or Bambara as on
his breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré, which established his
reputation in the world music community. His first North American
concert was in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia[citation needed].
1994's Talking Timbuktu, a collaboration with Ry Cooder, sold
promisingly well in Western markets, but was followed by a hiatus from
releases in America and Europe. He reappeared in 1999 with the release
of Niafunké, a more traditional album focusing on African rhythms and
beats. Touré was the mentor and uncle of popular Malian musician Afel
Bocoum[citation needed]. Some of Ali Farka Touré's songs and tunes have
been used in different programmes, films and documentaries. For
instance, his guitar riff on the song "Diaraby", from the album Talking
Timbuktu, was selected for the Geo-quiz segment of The World PRI-BBC
program, and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote of the
listeners. This song is likewise used in 1998 as a soundtrack for the
film L'Assedio (Besieged) by the Italian director Bernardo
Bertolucci[citation needed]. His songs Cinquante six, Goye Kur and Hawa
Dolo from the album The Source are also used as a soundtrack in the
French film Fin août, début septembre (Late August, Early September)
directed in 1998 by Olivier Assayas. In 2002 he appeared with Black
American blues and reggae performer Corey Harris, on an album called
Mississippi to Mali (Rounder Records). Toure and Harris also appeared
together in Martin Scorsese's 2003 documentary film Feel Like Going
Home, which traced the roots of blues back to its genesis in West
Africa. The film was narrated by Harris and features Ali's performances
on guitar and njarka. In 2004 Touré became mayor of Niafunké and spent
his own money grading the roads, putting in sewer canals and fuelling a
generator that provided the impoverished town with electricity. In
September 2005, he released the album In the Heart of the Moon, a
collaboration with Toumani Diabaté, for which he received a second
Grammy award. His last album, Savane, was posthumously released in July
2006. It was received with wide acclaim by professionals and fans alike
and has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category "Best
Contemporary World Music Album"[citation needed]. The panel of experts
from the World Music Chart Europe (WMCE), a chart voted by the leading
World Music specialists around Europe, chose Savane as their Album of
the Year 2006, with the album topping the chart for three consecutive
months (September to November 2006). The album has also been listed as
No. 1 in the influential Metacritic's "Best Albums of 2006" poll, and
No. 5 in its all-time best reviewed albums. Ali Farka Touré has also
recently been nominated for the BBC Radio 3 awards 2007. On March 7,
2006, the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced his death at age 66 in
Bamako from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some
time. His record label, World Circuit, said that he recorded several
tracks with his son, Vieux Farka Touré, for Vieux's debut album which
was released in late 2006