Rolling Stone just published their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. I had some passing familiarity with all of the names on the list. But one, Ali Farke Toure, threw me for a loop. I had heard the name but never heard his playing. There he was at number 76. So I began an investigation. Listened to some tracks on youtube. Read a little more and realized he was the guitarist from Africa who played with Corey Harris in Martin Scorsese's Blue's Documentary.
Ali Farke Toure was a singer and guitarist from Mali. His playing, as Martin Scorsese put it so eloquently, contained "the DNA of the Blues" coming from the same traditions that influenced so many of the great mid 20th century African American Blues players. His style is has a rhythmic pulse similar to the work of John Lee Hooker.
If you have a chance get over to youtube or Spotify and listen to some tracks. Turn it up loud. This is the real stuff. They called it "world music" or as Ali referred to it "music!" Try it out. You will hear things that you will find familiar.
Unfortunately Ali died at the relatively young age of 66 in 2006 so there will be no more new music from him. But he has a recording history spanning 30 years to dig into and digest and there are gems to be mined there!
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