Get ready to have your heartstrings pulled in all sorts of emotional directions by two of the best pluckers in the business. This album brings together Malian bluesman and guitarist Ali Farka Toure and his kora-playing countryman Toumani Diabate for the second time. Like the pair's previous collaboration, In the
Heart of the Moon from 2005, this follow-up is just as essential - and more poignant since it was the last recording Toure ever did. The sessions took place in June 2005 over four days and Toure died the following March after a long fight with bone cancer. It's a stunning statement to go out on, and a fitting tribute to his legacy as one of Africa's best-loved musicians. More importantly, as the elegance and poise of Be Mankan reveals, Toure was an understated, yet powerful, player.
And on his kora - a 21-string harp-like instrument - Diabate conjures up a mix of different sounds that recall everything from harpsichord to something other-worldly and spiritual. On Doudou the pairs instruments blend so seamlessly that it's almost impossible to distinguish between guitar and kora.
The traditional song Sina Mory is particularly significant because as the liner notes say it was the first song Toure heard played on the guitar in 1956. This moment inspired him to dedicate his life to the six-string, while still applying the techniques he had learned from his traditional one string guitar.
A song like Warbe is perfectly paced, wending and winding but never waffling, and Toure even sparks up an electrical twang for a few brief bars; the short and sad Fantasia is a tear-jerker; but last song, Kala Djula, another traditional number, is an up-tempo, bright and happy finale. It's a celebration.
