Ali Farka Touré sings the universality of traditional Malian music in eleven different languages, including Peul, Songhai, Bambara and others. "For some people," he explains, "Timbuktu is a place at the end of nowhere. But that's not true--I'm from Timbuktu, and I can tell you that it's right in the center of the world."

In the 1950s, Ali Farka Touré decided to take up music, much to the great despair of his family. He was the son of noblemen. He first learned the gurkel (traditional African guitar), then the narka (popular violin), which is now a regular instrument in his concerts. In 1956, during a concert by the great Guinean guitarist, Keito Fodeba, Touré discovered the guitar; this was a great revelation for him.

From that point on, his career was decidedly underway. In the 1960s, he composed, sang and played with the famous Troupe 117, a group created by the Malian government upon the country’s independence. During the 1970s, he produced his own recordings at Radio Mali. In 1987 Ali Farka Touré played his first concert in England, which was soon followed by a tour of Europe, Japan and the United States.

In 1990, Touré abandoned music in order to tend to his farm, in his native Timbuktu. His producer managed to convince him otherwise and to return to his guitar; two years later, he recorded the well-renowned Talking Timbuktu with Ry Cooder.

At heart, Ali Farka Touré is determined to devote himself exclusively to an irrigation project for his village.

Selected discography:
"Songs from Mali" World Circuit (1989)
"The River" World Circuit (1990)
"The Source" World Circuit (1992)
"Talking Timbuktu" World Circuit (1994)
"Radio Mali" World Circuit (1996)
"Niafunke" World Circuit (1999)