Vieux Farka Touré on the road

Second album by Farka Touré junior

Paris 

17/11/2009 - 

Three years after his eponymous debut, Vieux Farka Touré - son of the late Malian guitar legend Ali Farka - is back in the news with his second album, Fondo. Fusing traditional Mande groove with reggae, rock and soul, Farka Touré junior steps out of his father’s shadow and emerges as a talented guitarist in his own right.

RFI Musique: What does the title of your new album mean?
Vieux Farka Toure: "Fondo" is a Songhai word which basically translates as "road." But it’s not a road in the ordinary sense of the word, it’s a constant road, the path you travel every day. And so long as I haven’t reached the end of that road, I have to push on!

What’s the photo on the album cover?
It’s a photo that was taken in Niafunké, a sand dune that stretches out like a beach along the Niger River on the road to Timbuktu. It’s one of my favourite spots where I go and sit with friends sometimes for a quiet chat. There’s no pollution there, no car engines to break the silence. Nothing. All you can hear is the wind … These days I’m so busy rushing back and forth that sometimes I don’t know where I live any more. But I never lose sight of the fact that I was born in Niafunké. You should never forget where you’re from! Take one look at my album cover and you immediately know that this guy comes from northern Mali. He’s a son of the desert.

Why is tradition so important to you?
Our traditional heritage is an integral part of our lifestyle. It’s one of our greatest treasures and we should protect it as if it were gold. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try and progress at the same time, but we should use our tradition as a solid base to build on. I think it’s important to keep one foot firmly anchored in tradition – and then the other foot can wander off wherever it likes!

Throughout your career you’ve been surrounded by this ‘big family’ of Malian musicians …
Ever since my first album I’ve been fully supported by those around me. All my father’s musician friends told me they would always be there for me! There’s Toumani who’s always looked out for me and my cousin Afel Bocoum who used to take me to rehearsals with him when he was conducting the Niafunké Orchestra. And then there’s Oumou Sangaré who’s been like a mother to me over the years! I have a crazy uncle in Niafunké, too, who’s been my main advisor over the years. He’s the one I always turn to when I run into a problem. My brothers have also played an active role in my career, one of them actually playing the calabash with me. Everyone’s involved in my music!

Has your sound evolved much since you recorded your first album in 2005?
I made that first album without any real experience at all. I was just starting out and I didn’t take things too seriously. I performed my first official concert with my own band in New York and I haven’t stopped touring since, playing with major stars like Ry Cooder and Corey Harris, for instance... It’s interesting travelling all the time and coming into contact with styles that are so radically different from your own. The more you tour and the more you play, the more you feel the need to develop your own language. And that’s why I made my new album, inviting each of my friends to come and play on a different track.

Did you feel the need to emerge from Ali Farka’s shadow?
Yes, I did. There are plenty of artists who try to follow in their father’s footsteps, but the thing is it doesn’t always work. Sometimes you have to stand up and show who you are and what you're capable of… Having said that, I’m aware that my music is based on the same foundation as my father’s. Basically, we’re reporting on the same things in society like journalists. I put my own spin on those foundations, though, adding my own interpretation, my own story. I tour a lot in the U.S. and over there audiences are really into big fat sounds, sounds that groove. I think that’s obviously had an effect on the way I play. My father and I share the same feel, though. But Ali Farka Touré is Ali Farka Touré. And Vieux Farka is Vieux Farka! We each have our own vision and our own ear. To put it simply, I’d say the older generation played "Sahara blues" whereas we play "Sahara rock."

What are the songs on your new album about?
Well, a lot of them are about unity. In the past few years there have been so many wars, so much ethnic fighting, so much racism. There are a couple of songs about love this time, too, songs where I talk about my marriage, for instance. That’s the tradition I come from. For someone like me who’s never home to keep an eye on my mother it’s great to have someone there at home watching over things, someone who gives you a bit of stability. I’m out on the road a lot as a musician and I’ve seen what girls get up to. That’s why I preferred to get married and have a bit of peace of mind.

What did you inherit from your father in his lifetime?
I started playing the guitar seriously in 2004. At that point I was playing 24 hours a day, for days and nights on end. I’ve been fascinated by the guitar since I was a kid. I used to spend hours sitting at my father’s side, learning his music without anyone realising I was doing it. My father didn’t always encourage me to pursue this path in life, but just before he died he started teaching me his techniques. He passed on things to me which made my life a whole lot easier. Basically, it took just a few hours working with him to master what I’d been trying to learn myself for five whole years. He imparted a very well-kept secret to me - a secret a great many guitarists out there would love to know – but I’m keeping it secret to hand on to my own son one day. Actually, I used my father’s guitar on most tracks on the new album. That instrument has a really special sound.

 
I believe there’s a particularly poignant story behind Paradise, your duet with Toumani Diabaté…
I wrote Paradise as a tribute to my father. Toumani was someone very special to him. It was Toumani who initiated me into the art of Mande music with his Symmetric Orchestra so I jumped at the opportunity of playing Mande-style with the man who taught me. I would have loved for my father to be around to see the result…A really strange thing happened while I was off on tour in the U.K. (Producer) Nick Gold got in touch with me and got me to listen to the very last songs my father recorded. There was this one song that sounded just like Paradise, note for note. I actually thought it was me playing on it! It was so weird, without ever having listened to my father’s recordings, we’d produced exactly the same thing! It was surreal…

Vieux Farka Touré Fondo (Six Degrees) 2009
In concert at La Boule Noire, Paris - 17 November 2009

Anne-Laure  Lemancel

Translation : Julie  Street