The Source

Ali Farka Toure

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 1993)
• Original Release Date: November 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B000000628
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #111,604 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #67 in	Music > World Music > Africa > Mali
  #93 in	Music > Indie Music > World Music > Africa

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
The source of the Niger River? The source of the blues? Ali Farka Toure is one of the great African guitarists--one who has experimented in the most subtle of ways, seeking inspiration but never creating fusions with other popular music styles. The Source is more roots and less fronds than his Ry Cooder recording Talking Timbuktu; this earlier recording did find him working with Taj Mahal and harmonica player Rory McLeod, but mostly this is a recording with his amazing band, calabash players Amadou Sisse and Hamma Sankare and conga player Oumar Toure, plus a chorus of singers. The emphasis is on the guitar of Toure and the source of the music, the soil of Mali itself. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, May 26, 2005

By	Douglas H. Watts (Augusta, ME United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Aside perhaps from the necessary hype to introduce a Malian musician to Western listeners who don't know where or what Mali is, I don't hear much similarity to American blues music in this Ali Farka Toure release. Except maybe the pentatonic scale, but that's used in Japanese and other musics too. And certainly the comparison to John Lee Hooker is bizarre. In this album, Mr. Toure exhibits some serious guitar chops across a wide swath of tempos, rhythms and styles. Most important, his seemingly effortless yet complex guitar playing is employed over beautiful compositions, vocal melodies, percussion and singing. The first track, "Goye Kur" is a tour de force with ringing, fluid chorused guitar, a bright bold vocal chant and melody, rumbling and precise calabash percussion and a haunting njarka line that anchors the whole shebang. Hawa Dolo reminds me weirdly of Ben E. King and the Drifters doing a solemn, yet hopeful prayer song. The solo instrumental, Cinquante Six, has a nice Chet Atkins vibe with its delicate and nimble fingerpicking. Excellent recording, mixing and production top it all off.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, October 15, 2001

By	VPerry_co_dutchess - See all my reviews

I prefer this Farka Toure to "Talking Timbuktu " (with Ry Cooder). Each of the songs here has more draw for me then those assembled on Talking Timbuktu . The mood ranges from bouncy to swinging to brooding to mournful.

My favorite song "Hawa Dolo" is a haunting almost lullaby-like work without chorus or other accompaniment. I don't know what the song is about but it makes my heart stop.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome African blues, September 7, 2001

By	Steve Adams (New Hope, MN USA) - See all my reviews

I had heard about Ali Toure` and his virtuoso guitar work-it's not hype; the man can PLAY. "The Source", is a fantastic CD, and I can hardly wait to buy more of his CD's. He is living proof that you don't have to be from the Mississippi Delta to be a great Blues guitarist and to play with feeling.