vieux farka touré’s father, the late, great malian musician ali farka touré forbade his son from becoming a musician: he didn’t want him to have to endure the same problems he had.  instead, he encouraged him to become a soldier.  in the end, the music won out as vieux was always drawn to it.

after listening to a track or two, you will realize that he made the right decision.

vieux grew up in niafunké (in the sahara desert) and the malian capital, bamako playing percussion, calabash (a dried gourd drum) and drums (in spite of his father's opposition).  beginning in 1999, vieux studied guitar at the national arts institute in bamako.  during this time, he become a local celebrity as he began to write his own music and perform energetically stylistic live shows - proof that he is his father’s son.

soon after, he became part of toumani diabaté's backing group, who urged ali to give his son his blessing and finally encourage his musical talent.  during this time, vieux further developed his stage presence and gained valuable international experience.

vieux's critically acclaimed self-titled debut solo album was released online in fall 2006 and features his father (in what became the final recordings of his career) and toumani on several tracks.

vieux released his second lp, fondo (the road), on may 12, 2009 which the london times stated “will be a contender come the end-of-year roundups.”

had his father had his way, vieux’s music career probably never would have happened.  vieux stands proof that the “soul of the blues” can come out of west africa.

click here to listen to a july 08, 2008 set recorded on mountain stage by npr.  click here to listen to an npr all things considered story originally airing june 30, 2009.  click here to listen to an album review written by nrp's day to day, airing february 16, 2007.  click here for a bunch of high quality youtube videos.  don't forget, the album cover image always links to sample songs and the band's image to their website.

check here to see if vieux farka touré has any gigs scheduled near you.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store by people who know and love music and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand).  incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states.  that my friend, bites.