Toumani Diabaté - "The Mande Variations"

Toumani Diabaté - Si Naani (Nonesuch 2008)

Toumani Diabaté - The Mande Variations / Nonesuch

Occasionally I am wont to take a break from listening to minimal electronica and rock records and other things that I often find myself posting on here and instead delve into my better half's world of funk, soul and far-flung African music from the darkest continent we have. Toumani Diabaté has been a recent obsession with his new album, The Mande Variations.

Unfortunately for me, this comes at an inconvenient time: Diabaté has wrapped up his most recent American tour in support of this album - he played Chicago on January 29th and I can't for the life of me remember what I was doing that could've been better that night - but hearing this album goes some way toward consolation for missing out on the kora master's tour dates. That is what the 42-year-old Diabaté is all about: Gently plucking the string's of one of West Africa's trademark instruments, a 21-stringed harp carved out of a calabash that is capable of being retuned into one of four different tunings on the heptatonic (seven-note) scale. At times reminiscent of its closest relative the harp and at others a dead-on for the flamenco guitar, the kora is a uniquely challenging instrument with origins in what is now Guinea-Bissau and a history in popular West African music dating back to the 1800s.

With 11 strings in one hand and 10 in the other, it is understandable that even the slowest moments of a solo sound necessarily busy. It also follows that it would take years to figure all of this out, but Malian native Diabaté took cues from his touring father Sidiki (who made history by recording the first kora album in 1970) and learned the instrument himself as a kid while dad was out charming audiences in both Africa and, most notably for Western audiences, in Paris in 1977 at the Festival d'Automne.

In its own way, Toumani being left to his own devices has helped him gain greater acclaim than his father. Diabaté translates as "Nobody can refuse you anything." When it comes to his music, from 1989's Kaira to The Mande Variations here, nobody can refuse the extra influences that Diabaté the Younger has incorporated into his own brand of trad-Malian folk. The eight songs here utilize elements from across Africa and Europe to create a sound that is refreshingly free of Damon Albarn appearances, orchestras and other well-meaning-but-cluttered collaborations. To hear Toumani Diabaté doing his thing, alone, is a nice change of pace.

But Toumani's a clever guy, and it stands to reason that The Mande Variations could not simply be straightforward kora playing. The songs here are dedications to some of Diabaté's influences and often use techniques that the inspiration's source would have. So, say, Audiversity favorite Ali Farka Touré was fond of improvisational playing; here, the song of the same name provides a flurry of notes and one of Diabaté's finer moments. Another instance, Ismael Drame was Toumani's spiritual guide who had a knack for calmer, slower moments; here, "Ismael Drame" is one of the most sedate songs on the record. Though both are strong, neither of these tracks are the highlight of the record.

That space must be reserved for the opening track featured here, "Si Naani." The Independent's Andy Gill reckons that "Si Naani" has an Egyptian tuning "which combines griot melodies from central and northern Mali usually restricted to the ngoni lute." I trust that opinion given that my familiarity with the ngoni lute is limited.

"Djourou Kara Nany" is another highlight that sounds most like a Western-style folk song with a discernible, looping melody that is easy to remember. The raucous playing on "El Nabiyouna" halfway through is probably the album's most aggressive moment. But the most recognizable moment will be at the beginning of the last song, "Cantelowes." With a sly grin on his face, Diabaté literally uses a Western influence as he quietly recalls Morricone's famous whistle from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" before breaking into the remainder of the song. At once busy and wistful, "Cantelowes" is the perfect summation of everything Diabaté has learned during his time traversing the globe.

This album, too, is a good breather from his escapades bringing West African music to the world. It's a return home. It's an album of retreat, returning to the roots from whence he came. But nobody in Mali can refuse Toumani Diabaté anything: He's returned home with the knowledge that there is so much more beyond traditional kora music. Stringing together the cultures and the sounds that he has encountered so smoothly here is merely further proof of that exceptional talent.