RFI Musique - - Mali - Samba Touré's homage to Ali Farka

Samba Touré's homage to Ali Farka

Malian guitarist makes international debut

Paris

26/08/2009 -

Malian singer and guitarist Samba Touré was a protégé of the legendary Ali Farka Touré. And he pays tribute to his illustrious compatriot on his new album, Songhaï Blues, Homage To Ali Farka Touré. Inspired by his former mentor's genius blend of Malian tradition and North American music, Samba Touré has developed his own compelling style of desert blues.

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RFI Musique: What does Ali Farka Touré represent for you?
Samba Touré: I was lucky enough to be a pupil of the great master, Ali Farka. He opened a lot of doors for me and helped me in many other ways in my life. I remember bumping into him one day at the local market in Niafunké. I was eight years old and he'd just released his first album. I said to him, "Uncle, I really love your music and when I grow up I want to be just like you!" Ali Farka turned round and told me he'd be my teacher and that one day, "Inch’allah", I'd grow up to be just like him. That encounter made a deep and lasting impression on me.

And the idea of following in his footsteps remained with you throughout your childhood?
I'm someone who's always dreamt of becoming a good musician. When I arrived in the capital, Bamako, I started out playing with the group Farafina Lolo, but our music didn't reflect the sound of northern Mali at all. It was much more influenced by Zairean rhythms. Anyway, when I took the demo tapes of my first album along to Ali Farka, his reaction was that this was not my music. He advised me to delve back into my roots and start exploring the music from my home, from the sixth region. I took his advice and from that point on my playing style changed completely. After that, Ali Farka promised he would supply me with any equipment I was missing and then, right out of the blue, he announced I'd better start getting ready because he was going to take me on a world tour!

You ended up performing an international tour as part of Ali Farka Touré's band. What did you learn from your experiences on the road?
Well, the first thing I discovered was that the world is a big, big place - especially for someone like me who'd never travelled before! I really enjoyed myself out on tour with the band. We played at major music festivals like the one in Los Angeles with all the big American stars like James Brown, BB King and Carlos Santana… When I played with Farafina Lolo we'd never once left Mali to play a concert abroad. But since launching my solo career, me and my backing group Fondo have got around quite a bit. We played at the Ouagadougou jazz festival and performed in Conakry in 2007.

Has the guitar always been your instrument of choice?
Back in my Farafina Lolo days I was actually a singer. I was aware that the music we were playing wasn't my music, but the problem was I couldn't afford to branch out and form my own group at that time. I really became a guitarist in 1994, even though I'd experimented a bit on the guitar before that. It was the Master himself who taught me to play. Every time we got together he'd make me revise what we'd done during the last session and whenever I had a bit of trouble with a piece I knew I could go straight round to his place and he'd show me what to do. He taught me that when you play Songhaï rhythms, your guitar speaks to you in Songhaï and it understands every word you say.

Do you ever think of the advice Ali Farka Touré gave you in his lifetime?
Oh yes, pretty often, in fact. I remember the Master once told me, "Listen, son, when you play you should never play for the audience. First and foremost, you have to enjoy what you're doing and then you can share it with others." Ali Farka also insisted on the fact that when you play the guitar you should never look at your fingers on the frets. You should play with your soul because the soul never makes mistakes!