Vieux Farka Touré

A guitarist and singer from Niafunké in northern Mali, Vieux Farka Touré continues the Sahelian musical traditions while embracing broader influences. The son of Ali Farka Touré, he emerged from the mid‑2000s on the Tuareg‑blues and Manding music scenes, developing a guitar style where repetitive motifs, improvisation and melodic lines inherited from Songhai traditions blend with rock accents and grooves close to afro‑pop. His debut album, “Vieux Farka Touré” (2006), established the foundations of this aesthetic, which was extended on “Fondo” (2009) and “The Secret” (2011), taking him across European, North American and African stages. On records such as “Mon Pays” (2013), “Touristes” with Julia Easterlin (2015) and “Samba” (2017) he also explored more acoustic formats and voice‑and‑guitar dialogues. Vieux Farka Touré has repeatedly collaborated with others, notably kora player Toumani Diabaté and the Texas band Khruangbin, with whom he recorded “Ali” in 2022—the same year he released “Les Racines,” an album that openly returns to traditional Malian structures. On stage he alternates between electric lineups and more stripped‑down setups, singing in Malian languages and French within a repertoire where rhythmic trance remains central.