Last year, In the Heart of the Moon — the Grammy award-winning collaboration of the Prince of Kora — Toumani Diabaté - with the Lion of Niafunké Ali Farka Touré - was released. The album featured a sublime meandering sound - Diabaté’s lilting kora curling up to the distinctive guitar and voice of Ali Farka. It was a journey through Mali’s musical heritage, of which both men are maestros.

But this new album, recorded at around the same time as In the Heart of the Moon at the Hotel Mandé in Bamako features a completely different side to the kora man — a ballsey Diabaté showing humour and a lightness, as well as the obvious and abundant musical talent, which is a real pleasure. Diabaté and his kora are accompanied by a whole host of wonderful musicians who hail from all over West Africa to form the Symmetric Orchestra — a living breathing band who play weekly at Diabaté’s club, the Hogon, in Mali’s capital Bamako.

The idea behind the music created by the Symmetric Orchestra was to tap into the cultural heartbeat of the region which was seen as one — the Mandé Empire — during medieval times. This sense of relatedness still resonates today. Diabaté may have been born in Mali but his father, the great kora player Sidiki Diabaté was born in Gambia and his father before that in Mali. People from across the region may share a family name and be able to trace their roots back to the same place.

So the orchestra’s members come from all over, from different generations and backgrounds and include Mali’s Soumaila Kanouté, Senegal’s Moussa Niang and others from Burkina Faso and Guinea. All bring their own specific musical skills and experiences to play around, add to and create with.

The music is not stuck in the past of the Mandé Empire though, as Diabaté explains: “the Symmetric is a mix — it takes the old tricks and gives them completely new arrangements, then it takes the new songs and gives them the old traditional arrangements, so everything end up with a new twist.”

The mastermind behind the Symmetric Orchestra is, of course, Diabaté but the philosophy behind it is democratic and one of respect: “It’s my concept of how to mix the positive authentic side of the tradition with a contemporary and modern outlook. I chose the name Symmetric in order to show that the balance between all the elements is even, complimentary, each instrument contributing to the whole. Equally, to create a groove, a flow.” He continues: “At our gigs we play for hours on end, with guest musicians coming and going. It’s like a jam session, a public rehearsal. This means our music is always being renewed, we get a lot of ideas and energy from this.”

According to Diabaté the Symmetric Orchestra has now become a symbol of modern Malian culture, even though it hasn’t yet played outside Africa. Not only does the group play to packed audiences at the Hogon club, it also plays at the presidential palace to guests that have included Jimmy Carter, Colonel Gadafy, Jacques Chirac, Rita Marley and Iran’s former president Muhammed Khatami. Apparently Mali’s president Amadou Toumani Touré used to give his guests a Touareg sword as a souvenir, “now he gives them a little kora as well.”

Diabaté has had the idea of the Orchestra Symmetric in his mind for a long time “it was always in my head” and that’s the sense you get from the album. The tracks are varied, stretching from the rousing praise-singing from Soumaila Kanouté on the opening ‘Toumani’. In griot style, he names the members of Diabaté’s family and calls out, “where is Toumani? Toumani has arrived!” Kanouté’s voice is full of so much soul that it makes you believe in everything he says without translation. The energized rhythm blasted and jazzed about by a bank of horns, strings, electric guitars and then the fluttering charged kora at the heart of the music. This is an adaptation of a song Soumaila used to sing for Mali’s football team the Mali Eagles.

Then ‘Salsa’ - Malian salsa - horn and string sections, calls of ‘Salsa! Salsa’ all given a sexy Senegalese twist with pumping sabar drums having a free for all, lyrics sung in Wolof by Moussa Niang with Diabaté’s kora doing incredible things all the while. He says of this song, “I want to show how far I can push the improvisation, I aim for sheer technical brilliance.”

And then ‘Single’ which is a very modern-sounding adaptation of a song from the ancient Maninka repertoire, composed by Diabaté, Amadou Djité and Hussein Tounkara. Since the 13th century the fune (wordsmith) shout out stories and proverbs to his audience and here Mamadou Camara does just that, inviting everyone to dance and enjoy the Symmetric’s music and then asks “what is life but a conversation? We must talk to each other, understand each other. The difference between human beings and animals is communication.” This track incorporates a multi-layered sound — horns, light percussive sounds, electric guitar vying with the kora, vocals and the straight-talking fune — a brave composition and a great dance track.

This album is the result of the consuming love that Toumani Diabaté so obviously feels for the Symmetric Orchestra (he records every session they play). This is his opportunity to push his own kora skills to the limit, and — most importantly for this griot — to introduce different but related musical genres and traditions to other great musicians and to an audience. A sign of Diabaté’s skill is that while this album charts new territory for West Africa’s musical heritage by taking a new look at centuries-old sounds, rhythms and instruments this is an accessible collection of tracks to dance to.

Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra Boulevard de l’Independence is released on the 27th March by World Circuit Records www.worldcircuit.co.uk

Tour Info

Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra
Fri 21-Apr-06 Teatro Canovas Malaga Spain
Sat 22-Apr-06 Teatro Central Seville Spain
Sun 23-Apr-06 Teatro Jose Tamayo Granaga Spain
Fri 28-Apr-06 Auditorio de Galicia Santiago Spain
Sat 29-Apr-06 Teatro Jovellanos Gijon Spain
Tue 2-May-06 Sodra Teatern Stockholm Sweden
Thu 4-May-06 Berlin Germany
Fri 5-May-06 Teatro Albeniz Madrid Spain
Tue 9-May-06 Festival de la Guitarra Barcelona Spain
Thu 11-May-06 Cabaret Sauvage Paris France
Sat 27-May-06 Queen Elizabeth Hall London UK
Sat 29-Jul-06 WOMAD Reading UK
Fri 11-Aug-06 Sziget Festival Budapest Hungary

Toumani Diabate & Cheikh Lo Double Bill
Tue 23-May-06 The Lighthouse Poole UK
Wed 24-May-06 The Sage Gateshead UK
Thu 25-May-06 Philharmonic Hall Liverpool UK
Fri 26-May-06 The Anvil Basingstoke UK
Sun 28-May-06 Brighton Festival - Brighton Dome Brighton UK
Tue 30-May-06 Symphony Hall Birmingham UK
Wed 31-May-06 Bridgewater Hall Manchester UK

Also see pictures of Toumani and the late Ali Farka Toure on our sister site Flykr