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Ali with Taj Mahal, Womad Bracknell 1989
see her they’re done for. She lived her time, she’s no longer with us but we can never forget this legend.”
“I compose all my songs. God puts the melodies into my head, they come to me like that. I know straight away which tra- dition it is, whether Sonray, or Tamaschek. I could compose in French, but why? It’s not normal for me. I compose in the lan- guages I know and that know me and in which I have lived. I haven’t even got to the end of our local languages, why go for an outside one?”
“People say to me, your new album is
fantastic. I say, it’s the result of hard work. An artist must progress – yes, this album is a new step for me. You may think that’s strange because it’s more traditional. Shall I tell you why I say it’s new? Because this one is more valued in Africa than in Europe: in Africa it’s entirely understood. In Europe you may like the music, that’s all, but it’s the opposite in Africa – they under- stand everything, each ethnic group takes its part, and each struggles to be the best.”
“That’s the difference between me and other artists from Mali. I speak many local languages, I know different styles of music. Mali is so vast, it’s not good enough to be an artist just for one ethnic group. For example, most of the groups you know of from Mali, they all sing in Bambara or Maninka. In the region of Timbuktu there are eight (including Arabs) ethnic groups. Which artists are representing them? Me, I’m Sonray, pure: both my mother and father are Tourés. Touré isn’t just a Manin- ka name: my ancestors came from Mar- rakech, they were Berber. Timbuktu was a village settled by nomads, under the rule
of Morocco. Just think of that – from Tim- buktu to Morocco it’s three months by camel. That’s the reality I’m telling you.”
Does this all mean that history is very important to him?
“Oh, it’s extremely important to me because I love history, I want to know who I am. It’s the authenticity of who I am and what I have, and how I should behave.”
“I
’ll tell you now about the Tourés. The Arabs ruled us, we used to pay taxes to Morocco. But our people were strong, they got
together, rose up in rebellion. Why should these people come here and colonise us? How long ago did this happen? 400 or 2000 years ago. In reality, Sonray as a lan- guage is a translation of Arabic. That’s why the Touré are called Sidi bin Sidi, Sidat bin Sidi, Djerkou bin Sidi, Hukunafe- ji, Al-Wangara, and so on – these are the Touré’s praise names.”
“The Sonray and the Tamaschek are very strong in African science. Africa has a great science which isn’t written, and which doesn’t travel, and which we do not agree to write down. It’s something we find in our heads, in our spirits, in our stomachs, in our hearts. The mother of the first Tamaschek was a Sonray, but his father was a djinn. Where did he see his first day? Between the Sudan and Fort Lamy (Chad). It’s me who’s going to tell you this story today, no-one will deny its truth.”
“Mohammed Askia [ruler of the Son- ray empire from 1494 to 1528] had returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca. He was travelling back with his people. One
of them, a Sonray, had been advised not to spend either the day or the night at a place which was always cool and green near Chad. But he forgot – he was travel- ling with a Sonray woman who he was in love with – and when they arrived at that place where he was told not spend either the day or the night, they passed the night there. And it was thus that all the djinns had relations with all the women travel- ling with them. That was the origin of the first Tamaschek and this is why they have great powers.”
Has he ever seen a djinn?
“A person can’t see a djinn, according to the Holy Koran, but I’ve seen many spir- its. There are seven categories of djinns. I won’t tell you their names but I have them here in a cassette: I have all the spirits. I work the spirits and work with the spirits. In what way? In every way. I was born amongst them, and grew up among them. My father was a great healer, and my grandmother was a great connoisseur. Because of Islam I don’t want to practise this type of thing, it would make me too dangerous. But I tell you that we'll contin- ue to believe in it, because it’s our culture, we can’t pass it by.”
“He who doesn’t believe me and wish- es to know more should go to Timbuktu and ask for my master there, Lamin Sidi Yahya, if you want to see the spirits. But I warn you – you are responsible for what- ever happens to you. Because he works only with them. They can be good to you or bad, that depends on you. There’s a house in Timbuktu, Lami Sidi Yahya is the only person in the whole of Timbuktu who can go into that house. Since the time of
Photo: Jak Kilby
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