There’s this guy at a local restaurant near my old apartment in Dakar who plays Kora like he’s taken 9 hits of crystal meth. If that isn’t annoying enough, he walks from table to table all night asking everyone their names so that he can incorporate them into his high-speed Mandingo madness. While my love/hate relationship with Chez Loutcha and its annoying musician comes to mind whenever I think of the kora, it can be a beautiful thing.

A little tough to play at 21-strings, Toumani Diabaté does it best. Son of the undisputed kora king, Sidiki Diabaté, Toumani has been plucking at koras for as long he can probably remember. Recently he got a name for himself in the Western world by playing on Damon Albarn’s Mali Music. He’s also done some work with Taj Mahal and has a few solo albums. 1991′s Kaira is a great album filled with all kora, all the time. Check-out my favourite below.

This is the last day of Mali week. Next week it’s Senegal.

Toumani Diabaté – Jarabi