Toumani Diabaté

Toumani Diabaté (born August 10, 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. Diabaté comes from a long family tradition of kora players including his father Sidiki Diabaté, who recorded the first ever kora album in 1970. In 1987, Diabate made his first appearance on an album in the UK, on Ba Togoma, an album featuring his father's ensemble. In 1988 Diabaté released his first album in the West, a solo album entitled Kaira, recorded in one afternoon in London and produced by Lucy Durán.

In addition to performing Malian traditional music, Diabaté has also performed and recorded in cross-cultural settings. He has collaborated with flamenco group Ketama, forming a combined group known as Songhai and releasing two recordings: Songhai I and Songhai II. In 1999, Diabaté collaborated with American blues musician Taj Mahal on the release Kulanjan. "MALIcool" is a collaboration with American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd. He also collaborated with the Icelandic popular musician Björk on her 2007 album Volta.

Links To Peel
Peel played a track from Toumani called 'Jarabi' on his 20 November 1989 show after hearing him in session on the Andy Kershaw show the previous night. The session is also listed on the BBC Keeping It Peel minisite though with no TX date and it is not known if it was later played on the Peel show.

Shows Played
1989 1999
 * 20 November 1989: Jarabi (album - Kaira) Hannibal
 * 11 March 1999: Bi Lamban (CD – New Ancient Strings) Hannibal
 * 08 April 1999: Cheikma Demba (LP: New Ancient Strings) Hannibal