Toumani Diabaté, Malian musician and “king of the kora”, has died

Aged 58, Toumani Diabaté died Friday in Bamako. He was renowned for his art of the kora, a West African string instrument.

“My dear dad is gone forever.” In a Facebook post, Sidiki Diabaté, artist and son of the musician, announced the death of his father, which occurred on Friday, July 19 in Bamako following a short illness. Toumani Diabaté, nicknamed “king of the kora” throughout the world, was 58 years old.

Born in 1965 in the Malian capital, Toumani Diabaté comes from a family of griots, guardians of traditions and holders of oral history. “The immense Toumani Diabaté has taken his final bow. This evening, the kora is orphaned of its Master”, reacted Malian journalist Seydou Sissouma on X. Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour praised on the same network “a kora virtuoso, an outstanding musical arranger.”

Malian diva Oumou Sangaré claims that “The world of music has lost one of its greatest ambassadors today,” on Facebook. For her, more than a kora virtuoso, Toumani Diabaté was “a bridge between our ancestral traditions and modernity, an artist who knew how to carry the voice of Mali to the four corners of the world.”Malian singer Salif Keita lamented on social media “the loss of the national treasure” from Mali.

Toumani Diabaté has started playing “from the age of five” in the entourage of his family of griots before joining the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali, testifies, on Facebook, the ambassador of Mali to Canada, Fatima Braoulé Meité. He played in the company of great Malian stars including Ballaké Sissoko, another great kora player and Ali Farka Touré, a big name in the music of this West African country.