Tributes to Ali Farka Toure

Yesterday, two public radio programs broadcast tributes to the great musician:

• On PRI's "The World," a re-airing of Marco Werman's excellent and evocative piece chronicling his own trip to Niafunke in 2000 (the link to the mp3 is in the right-hand corner of the show's home page);
• and on "All Things Considered," a brief interview with Banning Eyre about Ali Farka's legacy.

Some Ali Farka Toure albums and projects not to be missed:

• The beautiful and gentle In the Heart of the Moon, with fellow Malian musician and kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate; this recording won a Grammy last month as Best Traditional World Music Album.
• If you want to hear earlier AFT, try Red and Green, a two-CD set that actually pairs together two separate albums (Red from 1979, and Green from 1988), not to mention his legendary sessions recorded for Radio Mali between 1973 and 1978;
• The intensely intimate and stripped-down Niafunke, from 1999;
• The collaboration Talking Timbuktu with Ry Cooder, which also won a Grammy;
• and lastly the Festival in the Desert recording from 2003, which I'd be sorely remiss in not mentioning for both personal and aesthetic reasons. Seeing Ali Farka playing and dancing joyfully there with Oumou Sangare remains one of my favorite memories.