The Mande Variations

Product Details

Artist : Toumani Diabate
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0769233007926
Label : World Circuit
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2008-02-25
UPC : 769233007926

ASIN : B0011OJPT6

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Si Naani
2. Elyne Road
3. Ali Farka Toure
4. Kaunding Cissoko
5. Ismael Drame
6. Djourou Kara Nany
7. El Nabiyouna
8. Cantelowes

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Editorial Reviews

Songlines magazine, April/May 2008 (issue #51

Toumani Diabaté is today for the kora (harp-lute) what Ravi Shankar was for the sitar 40 years ago - not just the outstanding virtuoso of his generation but a musician with the visionary genius to exert a profound influence far beyond world music. Just as Shankar influenced George Harrison and others, Toumani has already made an impact on the music of Björk, Damon Albarn and those at the more adventurous end of the rock spectrum.
If the album title was chosen to echo Bach's Goldberg Variations, it's a good analogy, for there's a courtly grace and elegance to these eight long, solo instrumental pieces. The effect is meditative - this is music for the head. And yet there is rhythm, too, of an astonishingly subtle complexity, although you'd have trouble dancing to it. Some have found the music's intricate, dignified counterpoint too austere to maintain concentration. Repeated listening pays dividends however - there's a voluptuousness in Toumani's endlessly varying contours of interdependent melody, harmony and rhythm that is quite engrossing. How a solo instrument recorded without overdubs can sound so lush and layered is remarkable - once again, Shankar comes to mind. Nor has the general seriousness of purpose dimmed Toumani's sense of fun - I am indebted to fellow music critic John Mulvey for pointing out that the opening phrases of `Cantelowes' are a playful quotation from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, a little riff Toumani picked up from Bassekou Kouyaté while recording his Djelika album back in 1995. This is a heroic record in every sense.
Nigel Williamson

Jazzwise, (Jane Cornwell), March 2008

(4 stars) Diabate has created a modern classic, a benchmark of traditional African music by a maestro in his prime.

The Guardian, (Robin Denselow), February 22, 2008

(4 stars) Remarkable...mixes the African praise song tradition with playful new influences...classy and gently intriguing.

MOJO, (David Hutcheon), March 2008

(4 stars) A display of virtuosity to convince even those reluctant to embrace African music.

The Observer Music Monthly, (Peter Culshaw), February 2008

(4 stars) With such poetic virtuosity, surely Diabate is one of the world's pre-eminent musicians in any genre.

Q, (Peter Kane), March 2008

(4 stars) Keeps things beautifully simple...the very definition of a virtuoso performance...close to perfection.

The Independent On Sunday, (Michael Church), February 24, 2008

Never has the Malian kora sounded so beautiful...the instrument sings; the music is rapt and reflective, the tracks luxuriously long.

Evening Standard, (Simon Broughton), February 22, 2008

(4 stars) The music is soft, elegant and profound...it takes you to another world.

The Observer, (Neil Spencer), February 24, 2008

Beautifully recorded...somewhere between a Ravi Shankar raga and a Jimi Hendrix acoustic jam, a blend of stateliness and exuberance.

Uncut, (John Mulvey), March 2008

(4 stars) Stately, intricate, meditative, rooted in a culture, but never afraid to transcend it.

Customer Reviews

a master at work (2008-08-02)

I bought this as part of the run up to the 2008 WOMAD and I am so glad that I did. This is a work of great virtuosity that transports me to another world. I feel humbled by the presence of Diabate's playing genius and simultaneously soothed by music of great beauty. Oh and by the way he was as good live as he is on disc. I can highly recommend this CD to anyone wanting to experience superb music and a living African legend.

A gentle bolt from heaven (2008-07-29)

I was a complete newcomer to this man and his music until, when sat watching all the latest Arcade Fire soundalikes on Jools' 'Later' one night found myself completely transfixed by his single performance in the middle of it all. This CD has continued to captivate me with it's joyful tunes and resonances, captured perfectly by a most sympathetic engineer. Toumani makes his instrument 'sing' throughout in much the same way to my ear as Abdullah Ibrahim does with a piano, or Ornette Coleman with an alto sax. Profoundly beautiful music !

Very good, but not his best (2008-07-29)

Unlike New Ancient Strings and Kaira, on which every track is superb, this latest album has a couple of less strong, meandering improvisations that really demonstrate nimbleness of fingers rather than great musicianship. If you are already a fan, definitely buy it, but if this is your first, I'd recommend New Ancient Strings or Kaira.

Warning - highly addictive (2008-06-14)

Toumani Diabaté, the kora guru of Africa, has outdone himself with this collection of solo instrumental pieces. The virtuosity in fingering the kora, the richness of the rhythms and range of melodies is unmatched by anything this Malian musician has done previously. I enjoyed his earlier solo collection, "Kaira", produced twenty years ago and his "New Ancient Strings" (1999), with which he and the younger Ballake Sissoko paid homage to their fathers' musical genius. Yet now, with this CD he has reached a level of maturity, depth and musicality not previously achieved. For fans of the West African kora, this is a must in their collection; for the "newbies", this is a great introduction into a mesmerizing aspect of Malian music and treat to enjoy over and over again. It will very likely become addictive. This is music to lose yourself in, over and over again. Toumani Diabaté comes from a long line of Malian musicians. His father was the most famous kora player of his time and Toumani often pays credit to him through his music. Nonetheless, the younger Diabaté has refined the abilities of the instrument and enriched the playing techniques over the years. Elements of these could already be detected in the award winning In The Heart of the Moon, a collaboration with the legendary guitarist, the late Ali Farka Touré. Toumani, being largely self-taught, has been open to experimenting with this traditional instrument, without abandoning its unique sound and complex harmonies. As he traveled the world, he absorbed and learned from other musical cultures, such as Indian classical music, flamenco and blues. The compositions on this CD harmoniously integrate such influences with melodies and rhythms of the past. All are his, or presented in his adaptation. Soft melodies that seem to tell gentle stories alternate with more vivacious and energetic pieces. Not surprisingly, a special homage is included for Ali Farka that he would have treasured. Toumani's extraordinary technical skill lets him expand the fingering to incorporate the bass line as an accompaniment creating the impression that two koras are playing. Furthermore, recently Toumani has been experimenting, successfully as the pieces here exemplify, with two differently strung koras, one for the traditional melodies and harmonies, the other for his more "modern" compositions. The photos in the included booklet show the details of the finger settings. The explanations of the background to the two kora stringings and insights into the stories behind each piece are written by the musician himself. A beautiful gift to yourself or for people you care deeply about. [Friederike Knabe]

serious music for all serious music lovers (2008-06-06)

The playing is faultless reminds me, with its interweaving of melodies, of Keith Jarret and his Koln Concerts. It crams so much depth into something that on the surface sounds so simple. You will get more from this CD every time you listen to it and you will listen to it a lot

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