The Heart Of The Kora

In the two years before his death in 2006, Ali Farka Toure produced two albums that he wanted to represent a culmination of his musical life. His own final album Savane will be considered here another time but he also wanted to make a collaboration with the master kora player Toumani Diabate. That album was titled In The Heart Of The Moon. It is an exclusively instrumental album apart from some shouts of encouragement and inter track chat. The record company for understandable commercial reasons trumpet the participation of both legends but this is predominantly Diabate's album. The kora takes the melodic and improvisatory lead with understated accompaniment from Ali Farka Toure that is almost akin to the role of a continuo in baroque classical music. The kora has a long and deep tradition among the griots of west africa, the keepers of the oral tradition of the ancient Mande empire. The possible links from west African music to the blues is well known and often cited but listening to the kora, I am always struck by the resemblance that the cascades of notes seem to have to the pealing of church bells and how that has permeated northern European folk music. This is basically a duo album with low key input from percussion and a relatively pointless contribution from Ry Cooder's guitar on one track, again more or less used as a drone. A fine disk but one that should really be regarded as a Toumani Diabate solo effort.