Tour de force

Malian-born singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, Tel Aviv is about to discover, isn't known as the ‘Hendrix of the Sahara’ for nothing.

By DAVID BRINN
The 2010/2011 World Music Series beginning at the Tel Aviv Opera House this month is starting off at such a peak, it may be difficult to top in the coming months.
Launching the four-part series, whose artistic adviser is Idan Raichel, will be Malian singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré.
Pegged the “Hendrix of the Sahara,” Touré is the son of the late Ali Farka Touré, one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. The elder Touré was widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. And his 31-year-old son has proven to be much more than a chip off the old block by proving through three acclaimed albums and electrifying live shows that his western Saharan roots can be heard in everything from the jam band scene to Jamaican dub to hip hop. His 2009 album Fondo made a slew of critics’ year-end pick lists, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Village Voice and the BBC.
“I don’t do anything to intentionally try to distinguish myself from my father,” he told The California Chronicle last month. “Since I started in music, I have been interested in offering the world a new sound – a blend from my roots and my imagination. So while my music obviously shares the same roots as my father’s, I am not interested in comparing it. He played what came naturally to him, and so do I.”
As big as the audience may be in Tel Aviv when Touré’s band takes the stage to launch the series next week – with a special guest appearance by Raichel – it’s going to pale against the crowd the guitarist performed for earlier this year. An estimated one billion people caught his colorful act when he, along with the likes of Shakira, performed at the opening ceremony of 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg.
“The World Cup was an unforgettable experience… but when you are on stage, you are thinking about the people at the show – everyone going crazy – and what it means to you and your country to have such an opportunity,” he said.
Now an Israeli audience will have the opportunity to witness this legend in the making.

The 2010/2011 World Music Series, Tel Aviv Opera House, November 26.
www.israel-opera.co.il