Toumani Diabaté

Toumani Diabaté

Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player from Bamako, Mali, born in 1965 and active until his death in 2024. He is associated with world fusion and is known for playing traditional Malian music as well as for cross-cultural work with flamenco, blues, jazz and other international styles.

Background and family tradition

Diabaté comes from a long line of kora players. His father, Sidiki Diabaté, records the first ever kora album in 1970. Diabaté’s own work continues that family tradition while also extending it into different musical settings.

Collaborations and recordings

He works with the flamenco group Ketama in the combined project Songhai, which releases Songhai I and Songhai II. He also records Kulanjan with American blues musician Taj Mahal, bringing together African and African American musical traditions. Another collaboration, MALIcool, features the American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd.

Diabaté releases New Ancient Strings in 2002 with Ballake Sissoko, and In The Heart Of The Moon with Ali Farka Touré. He later records Boulevard de l'Independence with his Symmetric Orchestra. He also releases The Mandé Variations as a solo kora album.

Performance and festival work

He appears at Roskilde Festival in Denmark and Sziget Festival in Budapest in 2006, performs at Glastonbury Festival in 2007, tours the United States that same year, and appears at WOMADelaide in Adelaide, Australia in 2008. In 2016, he hosts Festival Acoustik Bamako, a three-day festival in Bamako that brings together international and Malian musicians and other public figures with a message of peace.

Associated acts

He is associated with Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra, Mali Music and Lamomali.