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ARTIST ARTIST
Local Musician Adam Klein on
Malian Artist Vieux Farka Toure
M usician and songwriter Vieux Farka
Toure is a true son of his homelands.
Hailing from the Mopti region of
Mali in West Africa, which has long served as
a meeting point and intersection of numerous
ethnic groups (including the desert Tuareg,
Bambara, Dogon and nomadic Fulani, or Peul
herds-people), Toure's music blends styles and
ages, setting driving electric rock, blues and
even funk against a backdrop of traditional
instrumentation and sounds.
His new record and third studio album. The
Secret (Six Degree Records), is an important
achievement for the young artist and a daz
zling collection of the finest of the desert
blues and Mande music of southern Mali. The
record features a number of collaborations
with prominent American musicians including
guitarist Derek Trucks, singer/songwriter Dave
Matthews, jazz guitarist John Scofield and
producer Eric Krasno of Soulive.
But the heaviest hitter of all is the most
subtle. An ailing Ali Farka Toure, Vieux's father
and celebrated pioneer of Mali's desert blues,
joins his son on their final collaboration, the
title track “The Secret." The looping interplay
of the Toures' guitars, pulsing beat, warm flute
and low-in-the-mix, jumping ngoni lute, cap
tures the quintessential style and sound which
has brought worldwide attention, acclaim and
interest to the music of Mali's delta.
Athens-based singer/songwriter Adam
Klein, who recorded an album of original
Mande songs in Bamako, Mali in early 2010
and produced a making-of-the-record docu
mentary film, both currently unreleased, spoke
with Vieux about his work, Malian music, the
community of the north desert blues bands,
politics and more in a choppy conversation
mixing French and Bambara.
Adam Klein: What is the significance of
Malian music?
Vieux Farka Toure: We have a grand cul
ture here. Our culture is vast. You can make
a lot of music here. We make it and make it
until... it doesn't end [laughs]. The music has
many different subjects.
AK: Why do you think it translates and
resonates so well with European and North
American audiences?
VFT: Because what we say in our music
is very important. We don't sing about junk.
When we sing a song, we sing real songs. We
give advice. Our music is like school.
AK: Your music has served as a bridge,
balancing traditional and modern sounds, chan
neling the music of your people's past into new
sonic territory. You come from the North, from
Niafunke, from the Sonrai tradition...
VFT: Yes, I sing in Sonrai, Bambara, Peul
[ethnic groups/languages in Mali].
AK: You create a blend of all these musical
traditions in your music...
VFT: Voila. Because I represent the North
in person. I even represent all of Africa.
AK: How does The Secret break new ground
or further advance your sound?
VFT: I've placed all types of [Malian] tradi
tional music in The Secret, just like in Fondo.
When you make an album... Fondo, it's not
something that began overnight. It started
much earlier. There are things on it that I
started four or five years ago. It tock time to
prepare. The time to prepare, the time to make
it good, have good ideas, have good words,
that's the difference between Fondo and this
album.
AK: What was it like recording both in
Bamako and Brooklyn? What basic tracks did
you record in Bamako? What was added in
Brooklyn?
VFT: There are plenty of instruments in
Bamako, like ngoni, which I can't find in
Brooklyn. In Brooklyn we mixed, added some
sounds; that's it.
AK: How has being a percussionist helped
to enhance your guitar playing and song
production?
VFT: The drums aid many things. Drums
stabilize the music. They set the time well. So,
if you play drums and then learn guitar, you
unde- tand the rhythm and it keeps you from
having a problem.
AK: You have always featured collaborations
in your recordings, sometimes surprising ones.
What draws you to these collaborators, and
what was it like working with these musicians?
VFT: It gives you an opportunity to [learn
about] the music of the world. It gives you a
lot of experience if you live with people much
older than you and if you work with people
who know more music than yourself.
AK: What is the meaning, for you, of your
father’s legacy?
VFT: It's everything for me because he's
the one who brought me into the world. That's
clear. It's my very own music. I'm just con
tinuing what he has done. It's very important
for Ali Farka to have a successor who can con
tinue his work.
AK: What are your thoughts about the sus
tainable development in Mali at this time?
VFT: Really... that's a question about the
politics of Mali. Truthfully, I don't really know
all about these things. But I know that Mali is
developing a lot—very, very quickly. It's the
most peaceful country in this area at least,
that's for sure. But the unemployment rate is
very high.
AK: The lyrics to "All the Same" and "Watch
Out" seem to speak of international travelers
to Mali who visit for a brief period, become
enamored by the romance and simplicity of
village life, express love for the people and cul
ture, make unfulfilled promises and then simply
depart. These foreigners are "all the same" and
they're therefor "diamonds" and "gold,”you
sing. You warn Malians to be "careful" of those
who come and go. Can you elaborate on this?
VFT: It's not [a message] only for Mali. It's
for Africa. It's something between Africa and
Europe, U.S.A., everywhere. Because there are
many people that come to our place and say
we have many problems: there's war, don't go
to Africa, there's this and that... I've found
that this is not normal. So, that's what I'm
saying. But the people who say "there's always
war," "Africa is bad"—they're the ones that
come here all the time. It's not good. I said
that we, all people, should be united, and we
should respect each other.
AK: The music of bands like Tinariwen,
Tamikrest and other Tuareg music groups
emerged from either refugee camps or extremely
remote communities and have been politically
charged against Mali's government. Do you con
nect with their messages? Their lyrics have been
quite political...
VFT: Yeah, that's right; that's politics. But
I don't do that because it's none of my busi
ness. I sing for my society, for the people, you
see, but I don't do politics.
AK: What can the audience expect at your
Georgia Theatre show?
VFT: It's a surprise. You won't know until
I'm there.
Aihm Klein
Read the interview in its entirety at Flagpole.com.
WHO: Vieux Farka Tourd, Grogus,
A Thousand Suns [film screening]
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 4,7 p.rn.
HOW MUCH: $12
V -• )
14 FLAGPOLE.COM. AUGUST 31, 2011
