How Khruangbin updated the music of Malian maestro Ali Farka Touré

Image source, Jackie Lee Young

p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Known as the nation's greatest guitarist, he walked away from music in 2000, retiring to his village in the semi -desert Niafunke to cultivate both its rice field and its community. In 2004, he was elected mayor of the 53 villages of Niafunke and invested the majority of his musical royalties in an irrigation project.

At home, he was considered a national hero. When he died in 2006, radio stations suspended their programming to play his music - a slow, bouncy version of the blues that drew on West African traditions as well as the guitar riffs of John Lee Hooker.

Western audiences got to know him through his Grammy-winning collaborations with Ry Cooder and Toumani Diabaté.

Now, new listeners have the chance to discover his music thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between his son Vieux and the psychedelic Texan trio Khruangbin.

< p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Vieux Farka Touré inherited the expressive and filigree phrasing of his father's guitar; while Khruangbin is known for fusing elements of soul and blues with a globe-trotting mix of dub, Thai funk, cumbia and flamenco.

Together they have cobbled together a striking and elegant tribute album that pays homage to Ali's music while spinning it in unexpected new directions.

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So where did this otherworldly collaboration go- she took sha. ..