Toumani Diabaté (1965–2024)

Born in Bamako into Mali's premier griot dynasty as the son of Sidiki Diabaté, Toumani Diabaté recorded the watershed solo kora album Kaira in London in 1987 in a single afternoon without overdubs—revealing how two thumbs and two index fingers sustain independent bass kumbengo ostinatos, inner counter-melodies, and cascading birimintingo runs. ¹¶

Alongside cross-cultural dialogues with flamenco, Malian desert blues, and symphonic ensembles, he taught classical Mande historical epics for decades at Bamako's Conservatoire des Arts et Multimédia. ¹¶