Golden: Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté with "Kala"

Today's song is performed by Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté. Ali Farka Touré, who died in 2006, was a multi-instrumentalist and singer from Mali renowned as one of Africa's greatest musicians, and the person who represents the intersection between Malian music and the blues. Known as the African John Lee Hooker, his playing style on guitar was similar to Hooker's blues. He sang in several African languages, and won two Grammy awards. Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player who not only plays traditional Malian music but also has collaborated cross-culturally in blues, jazz, flamenco and other international styles with musicians such as Björk and Taj Mahal, among others. This song, Kala, is from their Grammy Award winning album (for best traditional world music) In The Heart of the Moon (2005). The song's title refers to the name of a village in the Manding Empire known for its gold.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Farka_Tour%C3%A9; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toumani_Diabat%C3%A9