By Giovanni Russonello Toumani Diabaté, a virtuoso of the kora, a 21-stringed West African instrument, which he often put into dialogue with other musical traditions from around the globe ...

"He played those 21 strings with love." That's the great American banjo player Bela Fleck talking about his duets with Toumani Diabaté of Mali — including the crowd-pleaser "Dueling Banjos." ...

When Toumani was born in Bamako in 1965, neither his surname Diabaté or his instrument, the kora, an iconic 21-stringed African harp, were familiar to anyone outside the Mande region. By the time ...

Toumani Diabaté, a Malian virtuoso of a 21-string instrument known as the kora, who brought a rich West African musical legacy to audiences around the world with genre-mixing collaborations ...

Toumani Diabaté, who has died aged 58 after a short illness, was one of the finest African musicians of the past few decades; known as “the king of the kora”, he revelled in fusing his native ...

Toumani Diabaté, Malian master of the traditional, 21-stringed West African instrument the kora, has died, The New York Times reports. Diabaté’s manager Saul Presa confirmed the news to The ...

The passing of Malian kora griot Toumani Diabaté in July is a great loss to music. Born in Bamako in 1965, in post-independence Mali, Diabaté grew up playing traditional music. but as a leader he was ...

Musician Toumani Diabaté of Mali and his 21-string kora, photographed at WOMAD -- the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival held yearly in the United Kingdom. Diabaté died on July 19 at age 58.