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been taken from here.’ By that time I already had a modern guitar. He said ‘No, it’s not possible, but it certainly does seem like it.’ Anyway, influenced by that, my second album has lots of little snippets in.”
“The idea is more mine than John Lee
Hooker’s, because I was born in this milieu. In my village, although it’s not a tradition- al guitar that’s played, it’s played in a very similar way. And so I continued, whenever I had a social evening, playing all the blues that you can play, in Tamashek.”
“L
et’s talk a bit more, so you understand, about the comparison between my music and American music. There are some
things that we don’t want to hear because they say nothing, they have no significance. But there are some bits of their music – John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Otis Redding, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Smith, Ray Charles… if you listen to them for sixteen hours, you can no longer locate the stars, the sky and the clouds! Maybe the lyrics can’t be under- stood, but if you compose lyrics in your own language, then it’s sure to be a suc- cess. And that will influence everyone.”
“So there I was, a bit discouraged because I’m there alone without advice, without a teacher, getting by on my own and I want to get into traditional music… because the traditional music in my coun- try is more valuable than the diamond. It’s really valuable, and it’s being recognised. And for me it’s already a huge success – even if I disappear today, they won’t stop talking about the work I’ve done. It’s something great. If you go to a graveyard you’ll find that there are many people
who have done little with their lives, that’s why we make a fuss of the dead. But what’s past is past – what’s new is what one must have.”
Does he have any pupils who play in
his style? “Yes, I have quite a few pupils, and I think that they are going to go far. That’s why I want to stop for my son as it is expected. I could bring several of them here with me when I come back. Every time they compose something they show it to me… that’s quite something.”
“I’ve one little one who has really learned everything I’ve been able to give. He’s really succeeded. He’s a tailor, but at the same time he keeps on learning tradi- tional music – his name’s Omar Touré. Amongst the young I can manage because I can speak all the languages of the whole country, nearly.”
I suggest that as a result of his record- ings and the radio broadcasts he’s done here, there will surely be lots of interest in his music. Many guitarists will want to try to play something like him, I suggest. Can he tell us something about the guitar tun- ings he uses?
“They are not European. Europeans have notes for the guitar, they have books, they have tones. Back home there are none of these. I could have played with a Western scale, but I couldn’t do it. It’s a problem of tones. Because for me, when I get up on stage, I’m no longer myself real- ly. Everything that comes into my head, I play. I don’t forget it, but I keep it to myself. It’s created for ourselves, not to share, not to give out except perhaps, if I have to, amongst my kids, my favourite one. On the day I stop for good I’ll say
Ali with Toumani Diabate on calabash percussion, 1987
‘Here, that’s for you’. But it’s something that we keep for ourselves.”
“I’ve decided – it’s a promise I’ve made, a vow between me and my creator – that in 1990, if all is well and I’m in good shape, I will get my favourite little rabbits together and say ‘For me, it’s over’. If he’s able to hold onto what I give over and make his name, that’s his problem! I’ve done my duty. It’s something that will then be eradicated; what I had, no one will know. It’s something that I can’t devalue at all. There are lots of people who have never listened. Lots. But if they did, they might have had quite an experience!”
“Anyway, I’m ready with the little group I have now, and I know that I’m going to empty out all that I have in my belly – and they’re going to find out a lot of things! If you see a sack hanging up, you can always imagine that there’s some- thing inside and what that is. I know that as long as I go on playing, I’ll never be at peace. You always want to travel; that’s the little bit of advice that I have. Thanks to God – I thank him very much and know that he wanted me to come here. I’m very happy. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to tell you all you wanted to know.”
[A final note about the guitar tunings. After the interview, Ali fell in love with my trusty Thornbory acoustic and borrowed it for the rest of his tour and album record- ing sessions. He returned it tuned neatly back to Western scale, except a full tone below our regular concert pitch. I don’t think that betrays any secrets between him and his maker!]
Thanks to Lucy Duran for translating during the interview, and to Anne Tucker for transcribing the tape.
F
Photo: Jak Kilby
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