156: Farka et Haïra, by Ali Farka Touré & Khaira Arby

Ali Farka Touré & Khaira Arby (Mali)
Farka et Haïra (1986)
8 tracks, 63 minutes

I compiled an eight-track version of this tape (in mp3 form obviously) from the downloads available at both Voice of America and the worldservice blog. Check out those blogs and all they have to say about the tape, and if you want to download the whole tape directly, let me know and I’ll send it over.

Really, those blogs tell you all you need to know about the background of the tape, and any information about it that I could tell you would just be rewording their own research, so please do check them out – I’ll just give my own thoughts of the tape here.

When this tape was recorded at a live concert in 1986, Ali Farka Touré and Khaira Arby were both famous across Mali, but this was before either of them attained the international fame they later achieved. These recordings give you an idea of what both musicians sounded like without having their sound tempered towards an international audience, either in their way of playing or the sound quality that comes with it. Because that’s a big part of this record’s charm: it’s obviously been copied and recopied so many times across many decades of cassettes that everything sounds super crunchy. It really suits Ali’s guitar playing, and Khaira’s voice cuts all the way through the noise, so that the poor quality of the recording doesn’t affect the appreciation of the music it contains in any way.

It’s also interesting to hear their repertoire before they both brought the influence from the blues to the fore. With Ali’s heritage as Songhoi and Khaira’s as mixed Hassani-Tamashek, their music together bares elements from all of these cultures from the north of Mali, as well as the music of the Bamana from the south of the country. On top of all that, it just sounds like a totally relaxed gig, with the musicians taking everything at their own pace while making some absolutely stellar performances.

Really, I just included this as a little-known early recording of two great musicians who went on to have worldwide success, and I reckon more people should hear it. So if you’re a fan of Ali or Khaira, or any Malian or Saharan music in general, get those blogs linked at the top read, and definitely get these amazing sounds in your ears.