Vieux Farka Touré

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Vieux farka toure - tour 2013

Spain Booking / Availability: July - September / October - November 2013

Line Up

Vieux Farka Touré - Lead Guitar and vocals
Mamadou Sidibe - Bass and vocals
Tim Keiper - Drums and Percussions

vieux farka touré :

The Touré - Raichel Collective

FEATURING VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ, IDAN RAICHEL, SOULEYMANE KANE AND AMIT CARMELI

Spain Booking / Availability: April and May 2013

Line Up

Vieux Farka Touré - Guitar and Vocals
Idan Raichel - Piano, Rhodes and Vocals
Amit Carmeli - Bass and Vocals
Souleymane Kane - Percussion and Backing Vocals

Israeli superstar Idan Raichel and Malian guitar virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré first met at an airport in Germany in 2008 while both were on tour. From this chance encounter an artistic kinship was born, culminating in an unscripted recording session that took place one afternoon in November 2010 in a small Tel Aviv studio. Joined by Israeli bassist Yossi Fine and Malian calabash player Souleymane Kane, Idan and Vieux improvised a masterful selection of songs that capture the unbridled creativity and inspired collaboration of these four brilliant musicians. The Touré-Raichel Collective was formed and the songs they recorded are the foundation of the album The Tel Aviv Session.
Idan Raichel is a massive pop star and household name in Israel. With his distinctive long dreadlocks and turban, Idan is immediately recognized wherever he goes. The music he creates with his internationally renowned band The Idan Raichel Project unites African, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and other multicultural flavors into an accessible global pop amalgam.
Idan has long been a fan of the legendary Ali Farka Touré, Vieux’s father and main musical inspiration. “I listened to Ali Farka Touré for years,” says Idan, “I even used his sound as the muse for one of the songs on my first album.” Upon meeting Vieux, Idan was effusive in his praise. “I have a dream,” Idan told Vieux, “I will leave my band and come join yours as a keyboard player. I don’t care if I get paid or anything, I just want to follow you around and see how you do it.”

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Biography

Traveling down Linden Blvd towards JFK Airport, Vieux Farka Touré had a realization. Having just left The Bunker recording studio in Brooklyn, he was discussing the sessions with his manager, Eric Herman. A newly constructed song, played in part by his father-the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré-came on over the car stereo, and Vieux said, “This is what we call ‘the secret of the blues.” The two friends laughed, though it quickly dawned on him that his off-the-cuff remark was a perfect summation of his third album. The Secret (Six Degrees Records) was born.

“To make this album I had to dig deep into the secrets of my own history and my country’s culture in order to move the music forward,” Vieux said, back in his native Mali. Indeed the song, which is pulled from the last session Ali cut before heading to a French hospital (he would die of bone cancer shortly thereafter), will be instantly recognizable to fans of the elder’s classic albums, such as Niafunke and Talking Timbuktu. “The Secret” is the young Farka Touré’s attempt at blending generations, making it difficult to surmise where Vieux begins and Ali ends. Including a beautiful flute section by Cheick Diallo, Ganda Tounkara on n’goni and Vieux on guitar, there is no doubt that he succeeded.

Recorded largely in Mali’s Studio Bogolan before being carried to Brooklyn, The Secret was produced by Eric Krasno, a versatile guitarist and founder of jazz futurists Soulive. Originally conceived of as an extended family-style project, Krasno says, “Initially we wanted to have a lot of guests, but in the end we narrowed it down to just a few, and that lent itself to the strength of the album.” Still, when those musical relatives include people like Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, John Scofield and Ivan Neville, the sonic DNA is going to be heavy and the sessions are going to run deep. Given his recent accomplishments-including a successful collaboration with South African rock band BLK JKS and a performance in front of a million people during the 2010 World Cup-Vieux’s time to break through to larger audiences has arrived.

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