The Mande Variations

Kora maestro Toumani Diabaté has a lot of legend to live up to. Although synonymous with the instrument ever since his sparkling international solo debut, Kaira (1988), The Mandé Variations is only his second solo disc. While Kaira introduced a new level of technical sophistication, it stuck to folkloric repertoire inherited from Mali's ancient Mandé empire, founded way back in 1235. This new album continues to develop kora technique and covers some of the same territory, but also ventures beyond the Mandé heartland for inspiration - with mixed results.

World Circuit's renowned production/recording team of Nick Gold and Jerry Boys have captured the kora's sound as never before, with an almost cinematic clarity. You can just about see Diabaté drawing breath, and the folds of his boubou brushing against one another as he picks over the strings. He seems to take an almost playful delight in the reverberations of the bass notes on Ali Farka Touré, his tribute to the late great 'desert blues' guitarist. But in attempting to evoke Ali's genius, Diabaté gets carried away in a pointless display of virtuoso trills that bear no relation to the great man's understated playing. If this were transposed onto electric guitar, it would sound like poodle rock excess. To a lesser extent, the same problem mars the only other completely improvised - and rather directionless - composition, El Nabiyouna, and even the coda of the otherwise gorgeous ten-minute opener, Si Naani.

Still, when Diabaté remains rooted in tradition (while both composing or reinterpreting ancient themes) the results are sublime. Elyne Road has a flowing, restful vibe, as does Ismael Drame. Kaouding Cissoko (dedicated to the late Senegalese kora player) is an engagingly dense, racing piece, and the closing Cantelowes has a wonderful, meditative groove, even if it does start with a quote from Morricone's The Good The Bad & The Ugly, as if to wind up purists.

It's laudable that Diabaté never stands still as an artist, but The Mandé Variations won't pass the Buena Vista dinner party test. Maybe he should keep his experimental tendencies and rockisms for his Symmetric Orchestra. --Jon Lusk

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Toumani Diabaté is today for the kora (harp-lute) what Ravi Shankar was for the sitar 40 years ago - not just the outstanding virtuoso of his generation but a musician with the visionary genius to exert a profound influence far beyond world music. Just as Shankar influenced George Harrison and others, Toumani has already made an impact on the music of Björk, Damon Albarn and those at the more adventurous end of the rock spectrum.
If the album title was chosen to echo Bach's Goldberg Variations, it's a good analogy, for there's a courtly grace and elegance to these eight long, solo instrumental pieces. The effect is meditative - this is music for the head. And yet there is rhythm, too, of an astonishingly subtle complexity, although you'd have trouble dancing to it. Some have found the music's intricate, dignified counterpoint too austere to maintain concentration. Repeated listening pays dividends however - there's a voluptuousness in Toumani's endlessly varying contours of interdependent melody, harmony and rhythm that is quite engrossing. How a solo instrument recorded without overdubs can sound so lush and layered is remarkable - once again, Shankar comes to mind. Nor has the general seriousness of purpose dimmed Toumani's sense of fun - I am indebted to fellow music critic John Mulvey for pointing out that the opening phrases of `Cantelowes' are a playful quotation from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, a little riff Toumani picked up from Bassekou Kouyaté while recording his Djelika album back in 1995. This is a heroic record in every sense.
Nigel Williamson


(4 stars) Diabate has created a modern classic, a benchmark of traditional African music by a maestro in his prime.

(4 stars) Remarkable...mixes the African praise song tradition with playful new influences...classy and gently intriguing.

(4 stars) A display of virtuosity to convince even those reluctant to embrace African music.

(4 stars) With such poetic virtuosity, surely Diabate is one of the world's pre-eminent musicians in any genre.

(4 stars) Keeps things beautifully simple...the very definition of a virtuoso performance...close to perfection.

Never has the Malian kora sounded so beautiful...the instrument sings; the music is rapt and reflective, the tracks luxuriously long.

(4 stars) The music is soft, elegant and profound...it takes you to another world.

Beautifully recorded...somewhere between a Ravi Shankar raga and a Jimi Hendrix acoustic jam, a blend of stateliness and exuberance.

(4 stars) Stately, intricate, meditative, rooted in a culture, but never afraid to transcend it.

"The sort of musician you only encounter once or twice in a lifetime." Lucy Duran, BBC Radio 3

'The Mandé Variations' is the highly anticipated solo album from Africa's most brilliant instrumentalist and king of the kora, Toumani Diabaté. A particularly beautiful and melodically accessible instrumental album which will appeal to a very broad spectrum of music buyers, whether they favour jazz, classical, folk, ambient, or even chill out. In fact, anyone who enjoys discovering new music!

A moodier, more reflective and mature sound than we have heard previously from Toumani before, featuring interpretations of classic themes alongside groundbreaking improvised pieces. The album is a departure from Toumani's recent collaborative work and the chance to fully appreciate his incredible musical ability and creativity in his own right.

As always with World Circuit recordings, great attention to detail has been paid to recording, production, packaging and presentation to ensure it is of the highest quality.

Personnel:
Toumani Diabate - (kora)

Toumani is amongst the most important musicians in Africa today and an eminent ambassador for the continent as a whole. Popular throughout the world, his music is both classical and contemporary in one.

The kora is a 21 stringed African harp unique to West Africa. As the world's premier kora player, Toumani can take much of the credit for the growing interest in this traditional instrument. In addition to his previous acclaimed albums, Toumani has reached a more modern audience through his recent work with the brilliantly funky Symmetric Orchestra and his collaborations with well known artists such as Damon Albarn, Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita, Taj Mahal, and most recently Bjork. Toumani performed on her last album and then proved very popular with the crowd when they appeared together at Glastonbury last year.

Toumani Diabaté has been nominated along with his Symmetric Orchestra in the Africa category of BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008. The winners will be announced in April. His recording with the late Ali Farka Touré, 'In the Heart of the Moon' won a Grammy in 2005.