{"id":78403,"date":"2021-04-22T09:40:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T08:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/toumani-diabate-lso-korolen\/"},"modified":"2021-04-22T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T11:03:49","slug":"toumani-diabate-lso-korolen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/toumani-diabate-lso-korolen\/","title":{"rendered":"Toumani Diabat\u00e9, the man who talked with a symphony orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The griot master and one-man orchestra Toumani Diabat\u00e9 is a celebrated koro virtuoso, capable of playing in any style. Indeed, the musican has shown over the years, through the plurality and the excellence of his collaborations, that his instrument is fully capable of being in harmony with other traditions as well as open to new innovations.\u00a0And yet it was only in 2008 that he first performed as a soloist with a symphony orchestra. This sublime concert with the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra is finally being released as an album on April 23rd, thirteen years after having been recorded live at the Barbican Center<\/em> in London.\u00a0Toumani has named the album “K\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n” <\/em>(which can be translated as “seniority”, or “birthright”).\u00a0PAM contacted him in Abidjan to evoke the past, but also to talk about the present.\u00a0Interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why are you in the Ivory Coast at the moment ?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I arrived at the end of 2019 to work on my next album, which will revisit my thirty-year career and the collaborations I have made (with Bj\u00f6rk, Youssou\u2019n\u2019Dour, Ali Farka Tour\u00e9 and so many others). I wanted horns on the album, and you can\u2019t find any in Mali these days because musicians mainly use synthesizers instead, so I came to record in Abidjan, which is still a major crossroads for African music, and where many greats like Many Dibango, Mory Kant\u00e9 and more recently Fally Ipupa have come to work. And I was very well received here ! And then the Covid19 arrived : there were curfews to prevent working in the studio at night, borders opened then closed, the coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in Mali and the arrival of the new government. In other words, with the current situation I decided to stay here because it\u2019s not a good time to travel. And here in the Ivory Coast I can still do concerts. And ever since I ceded my label DIabat\u00e9ba Music to the African branch of Universal, Universal Africa (editor\u2019s note :which also produces DJ Arafat, Toofan, Kiff No Beat, Fally Ipupa\u2026<\/em>), we have developed a strong partnership. Before, the productions were mainly done in the West, but my next album will be recorded entirely on the continent, with many guests. It\u2019s a new departure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lars Opstad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The album which is released on April 23, K\u00f4r\u00f4l\u00e9n<\/em>, was recorded live, over ten years ago. What are your memories of it ?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra<\/a> was made in 2008, and I am really very happy that it is finally coming out because it was a historic encounter ! We only had a few hours of rehearsals before the first sold-out concert, it was extraordinary and very unusual because in classical music there is rarely a place for improvisation and orality. Some of the English musicians had never even seen a kora before this concert ! And yet I felt an extraordinary sense of freedom playing with them.
The kora has traveled a lot since then, it has encountered many different music worlds, even hip hop or Ivorian zouglou. I love collaborations and I have taken my kora towards the blues with Taj Mahal, flamenco with Ketama, electronic music with Bj\u00f6rk or Damon Albarn, etc\u2026 But the kora had never been a soloist with a symphony orchestra before this album ! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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