{"id":72798,"date":"2021-02-23T15:32:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T14:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=72798"},"modified":"2021-02-23T15:32:46","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T14:32:46","slug":"toumani-diabate-korolen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/toumani-diabate-korolen\/","title":{"rendered":"The return of the great Toumani Diabat\u00e9, an enduring soloist and humanist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Toumani Diabat\u00e9 has joined forces with the London Symphony Orchestra for the album <em>K\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n<\/em>, a sumptuous blend of kora and classical music.  <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cK\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n\u201d means \u201cancestral\u201d in the Mandingo family of languages. The term is therefore tied to the look and feel of the album, which exquisitely brings together ancient melodies which are dear to the djeli (griots), as well as arrangements designed for western symphony orchestra. A happy marriage, judging by \u201cHa\u00eenamady Town,\u201d the very first single that has just been released. In listening to it, we are able to glimpse the thousand facets that the kora player and conductor Clark Rundell were able to explore together on the stage of the Barbican Center in London. The concert, originally recorded in 2008, will soon be available on record. It marks one of the wonders that Nick Gold, the boss of World Circuit Records, has accumulated over the years.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div><div><div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/track\/0CXOciSdNtkMStIYSEVCnc\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allow=\"encrypted-media\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Toumani Diabat\u00e9, this isn\u2019t his first cross-culture collaboration. He won a Grammy Award for his work with Ali Farka Tour\u00e9 and Ry Cooder, and he has also crossed the strings of his kora with the American Taj Mahal, the Icelander Bj\u00f6rk, the Brit Damon Albarn and, more recently, with the French artist \u201cM.\u201d It is a sign that the virtuoso is capable of making his instrument shine under all circumstances, nourished at all times by the sheer depth of West African culture, of which the kora is an enduring symbol: \u201c<em>There is a mystic and classical side to African music, a divinity,<\/em>\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His goal with this project? To help the audience to: \u201c<em>Look at this music in a new way, look at African music in a different way.<\/em>\u201d He adds: \u201c<em>Our music is older than Bach.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp; Never before has a kora been a solo instrument in a symphony orchestra. Arranger Ian Gardiner explains: \u201c<em>The important thing was to write music for the orchestra that left room so the Malian musicians could speak over the top<\/em>.\u201d This very meticulous exercise allowed Toumani Diabat\u00e9 to make his own adjustments to the arrangements, sublimating the music through the improvisations of his group, which brought together several musicians from famous Malian griot families, such as Lassana Diabat\u00e9, Fanta Mady Kouyat\u00e9, Fode Kouyat\u00e9 and Ganda Tounkara. The voice of Kasse Mady Diabat\u00e9, who unfortunately passed away in 2018,&nbsp;is also present, like that of an ancestor, reminding us of the thin line between the living and the K\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pre-order the album <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (s\u2019ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fnac.com\/SearchResult\/ResultList.aspx?SCat=0!1&amp;ectrans=1&amp;fbclid=IwAR2sKc3oEQT3uqUY8eFrEHbJ_zC8zf_hbNTXf0zSDh7CcCThqBFEZyskVKQ&amp;sft=1&amp;Origin=Awin316451&amp;Search=toumani%2Bdiabate%2Bkorolen&amp;awc=12665_1614001249_72d1d0ccc3fe6959c0f7ab5808961a8e&amp;sa=0\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>, via <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"World Circuit\/BMG (s\u2019ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)\" href=\"https:\/\/worldcircuit.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">World Circuit\/BMG<\/a>, ahead of its April 23 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find Toumani Diabat\u00e9 and The London Symphony Orchestra on our Songs of the Week on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (s\u2019ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)\" href=\"https:\/\/spoti.fi\/2Pz0eyg\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (s\u2019ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/30zVbUA\" target=\"_blank\">Deezer<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ea75a808-album-toumani-diabat%C3%A9-1010x1010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72791\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toumani Diabat\u00e9 has joined forces with the London Symphony Orchestra for the album K\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n, a sumptuous blend of kora and classical music. \u201cK\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n\u201d means \u201cancestral\u201d in the Mandingo family of languages. The term is therefore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":72793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3944],"tags":[10635,895,667],"location":[8132,8230],"yst_prominent_words":[13020,8403,33575,8993,33296,33295,10355,8435,9841,33297,12622,8508,33171,22951,33311,33309,8543,8438,33163,8848],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72798"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=72798"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=72798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}