Mali: Death of musician Toumani Diabaté, the “master of the kora”
“My dear dad is gone forever”his son and artist Sidiki Diabaté said on Facebook. He died in a private clinic in the capital Bamako, another family member told AFP, without giving further details.
Toumani Diabaté, born in 1965 in Bamako, comes from a family of griots, guardians of traditions and holders of oral history. He was renowned for his art of the kora, an instrument at the junction of the lute and the harp, highly prized throughout Africa.
” The immense Toumani Diabaté has taken his bow. Tonight, the kora is orphaned of its Master” reacted Malian journalist Seydou Sissouma on X.
Youssou Ndour, Oumou Sangare and Salif Keita paid tribute to him
Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour praised “a kora virtuoso, an outstanding musical arranger”on X.
Malian diva Oumou Sangaré claimed on Facebook that “The world of music has lost one of its greatest ambassadors today.”.
For her, more than a kora virtuoso, Toumani Diabaté was “a bridge between our ancestral traditions and modernity, an artist who knew how to carry the voice of Mali to the four corners of the world”.
Malian singer Salif Keita lamented on social media “the loss of the national treasure” from Mali, a country currently facing jihadism and plunged since 2012 into a serious crisis with multiple dimensions.
Toumani Diabaté began playing at the age of five in the entourage of his family of griots before joining the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali, testifies, on Facebook, the ambassador of Mali to Canada, Fatima Braoulé Meité.
He played alongside major Malian stars including Ballaké Sissoko, another great kora player, and Ali Farka Touré, another big name in the music of this West African country, she added. (Belgian)
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