He was born in 1965 into a family of griots, the storytellers.
He was acutely entrenched in Mali’s rich cultural heritage: A gifted custodian of the nation’s oral histories and traditions.
He has been lauded and described as a master of the African stringed instrument, the kora.
Have you ever felt the flair of twenty-one strings of the eminent griot?
He was famous for his astonishing talent and innovative approach to the kora, for he could flawlessly fuse traditional Malian music with present-day influences.
That feat earned him a lot of esteem in Africa and beyond. A son of Africa who made the continent proud and loud.
He partook in several recording projects both at home and abroad.
He recorded the album ‘In the Heart of the Moon’ with the great legend — the late Ali Farka Touré, which won the Best Traditional World Music Album in GRAMMY.
He toured with stars like Salif Keita, and was part of Damon Albarn’s Mali Music project. He was featured on Kasse Mady Diabaté’s 2004 Grammy nominated album Kassi Kasse. He celebrated his second GRAMMY Award for Ali Farka Touré in 2011.
Born into a family of griots whose lineage springs back 71 generations and considered as one of the most artistically prolific and successful musicians on the African continent, Toumani Diabaté passed on 19 July 2024.
The undisputed master of the kora, described by the Observer as ‘one of the world’s most pre-eminent musicians in any genre’— was instrumental in bringing that particular instrument to listeners across globe.
A productive performer of indeed incomparable brilliance and ingenuity – he demonstrated that the kora can challenge the world’s highest instruments.
Following the heavy news of his passing, tributes poured in. For instance, on her Facebook page, Gambian multi- instrumentalist, singer and composer and one who belongs to one of the five key kora-playing families of West Africa and the first female professional kora player to emerge from a griot family, Sona Jobarteh wrote:
“Not only have we lost our family member, but the world has lost one of its greatest artists. The inspiration he brought to a whole generation, including myself can never be measured. He transformed the kora and brought it to the world stage in a way no one had. He was a pioneer, a master, a beautiful soul and an icon within this tradition”. She is the cousin to the distinguished kora player, Toumani Diabaté.
Malian superstar, Salif Keita, the “Golden Voice of Africa”, bemoaned “the loss of (Mali’s) national treasure”. Senegal’s Youssou N’dour praised “a virtuoso of the kora, an unmatched musical arranger” while Malian Grammy award-winning vocalist Oumou Sangare, known as the “Songbird of Wassoulou”, stated that Diabate was “a bridge between our ancestral traditions and modernity”.
Talk of the infectiousness, the profoundness and the ubiquitousness of the flair or feel of twenty-one strings of the eminent griot, then talk of the traditional kora of none other than Toumani Diabaté, Mali’s celebrated “king of kora”.
May the king rest in eternal peace. Africa is proud of his illustrious legacy.
