Vieux Farka Toure is very much his father’s son. But where the Malian blues guitarist stands apart from his late father, Ali Farka Toure, is in the heavy riffs and blues jams interlaced throughout his music — a style that has rightfully earned Vieux the nickname ‘the Hendrix of the Sahara.’
In the final hour before his latest album, ‘Secret,’ is released on May 24, Vieux Farka Toure is stopping by the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley for a show that will be well worth the drive down the hill.
‘Vieux Farka Toure is forging his own identity, expanding on [traditional] drones and gnarled picking patterns with a rocker’s joyful audacity,’ The New York Times wrote.
Music has always been an inherent part of Malian culture. From the ancient Mande Empire and on through today, a caste of musicians known as the Jeliw have been charged with preserving Malian history through song. The latest chapter of Malian music history is that of the blues guitar, where musicians like Vieux are bridging the gap between African and American blues. Vieux recently performed in front of a billion people — yup, 1,000,000,000 people — at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
‘The Secret,’ which was produced by Eric Krasno and recorded in both Mali and Brooklyn studios, confirms Vieux’s commitment to the blues while still staying in touch with his musical roots. On the album, Vieux invited a handful of musicians, including Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, John Scofield, and Ivan Neville, to play alongside him.
‘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 in a biography listed on his website. ~ Julie Brown
Info: 7:30pm, tickets $18/members, $20/nonmembers, Center for the Arts, Grass Valley, (800) 594-8499, thecenterforthearts.org
