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ENLARGE
“Here in Africa, he who teaches you in life, you follow his path. As [Ali] neared the end of his life, I knew that the wisdom he imparted on me was important to spread.”
– Vieux Farka Touré
Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré returns to Nevada County for his third concert presented by The Center for the Arts. His opening set for last year's Taj Mahal concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium brought the capacity crowd to their feet.
The son of the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, Vieux has already stepped out from his late father's shadow. Ali Farka Touré proved that the soul of the blues could be found in West Africa. His son Vieux is turning heads with a more radical idea: That those western Saharan roots can be heard in everything from the jam band scene to Jamaican dub.
His fifth record in as many years, The Secret, is scheduled to be released this month. The new record was originally conceived of as an extended family-style project. It features guest appearances by musical relatives including Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, John Scofield and Ivan Neville.
“To make this album I had to dig deep into the secrets of my own history and my country's culture in order to move the music forward,” Vieux said. “My music is more mature now, more evolved. It digs deeper into the past and pushes harder into the future as a result. This is a hard thing to explain, but hopefully the music speaks for itself.”
Vieux's guitar style is reminiscent of his father's, having grown up hearing Ali Farka Touré music every day and absorbed it into his blood. But Vieux's exceptional musicianship hints at more. His music transverses the worlds of reggae, funk, rock, and R&B, as well as naturally incorporating bluesy tones. Vieux is also a talented songwriter with compositions that are grand and lush melodically and positive and spiritual lyrically, as well as sometimes humorous.
Markus James
Markus James is originally from the Washington, D.C., area where his first musical memory is of a blind blues singer he saw many times playing on a sidewalk. He first encountered West African stringed music at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival when he was mesmerized by the Gambian Kora player and singer, Alhaji Bai Konte.
He traveled in West Africa in 1994 and made his way to the village of Niafounke to meet the legendary “Malian Bluesman” Ali Farka Toure. It was then that Markus first recorded original, blues-based songs with Wassoulou musician Solo Sidibe, which became the “where you wanna be” album, released six years later.
He has produced several programs for PRI's Afropop Worldwide, notably “Ali Farka Toure: Live From Niafounke.” James was featured at the 2009 California WorldFest in Grass Valley and will be returning to WorldFest this summer.
– Vieux Farka Touré
Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré returns to Nevada County for his third concert presented by The Center for the Arts. His opening set for last year's Taj Mahal concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium brought the capacity crowd to their feet.
The son of the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, Vieux has already stepped out from his late father's shadow. Ali Farka Touré proved that the soul of the blues could be found in West Africa. His son Vieux is turning heads with a more radical idea: That those western Saharan roots can be heard in everything from the jam band scene to Jamaican dub.
His fifth record in as many years, The Secret, is scheduled to be released this month. The new record was originally conceived of as an extended family-style project. It features guest appearances by musical relatives including Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, John Scofield and Ivan Neville.
“To make this album I had to dig deep into the secrets of my own history and my country's culture in order to move the music forward,” Vieux said. “My music is more mature now, more evolved. It digs deeper into the past and pushes harder into the future as a result. This is a hard thing to explain, but hopefully the music speaks for itself.”
Vieux's guitar style is reminiscent of his father's, having grown up hearing Ali Farka Touré music every day and absorbed it into his blood. But Vieux's exceptional musicianship hints at more. His music transverses the worlds of reggae, funk, rock, and R&B, as well as naturally incorporating bluesy tones. Vieux is also a talented songwriter with compositions that are grand and lush melodically and positive and spiritual lyrically, as well as sometimes humorous.
Markus James
Markus James is originally from the Washington, D.C., area where his first musical memory is of a blind blues singer he saw many times playing on a sidewalk. He first encountered West African stringed music at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival when he was mesmerized by the Gambian Kora player and singer, Alhaji Bai Konte.
He traveled in West Africa in 1994 and made his way to the village of Niafounke to meet the legendary “Malian Bluesman” Ali Farka Toure. It was then that Markus first recorded original, blues-based songs with Wassoulou musician Solo Sidibe, which became the “where you wanna be” album, released six years later.
He has produced several programs for PRI's Afropop Worldwide, notably “Ali Farka Toure: Live From Niafounke.” James was featured at the 2009 California WorldFest in Grass Valley and will be returning to WorldFest this summer.
