Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté is currently on tour in the US, and performs in the Bay area on Wednesday, November 5. The San Francisco Bay-Guardian's music blog, Noise, recently posted about his music and his recent album, The Mandé Variations, describing Diabaté's "ability to incorporate disparate sounds from Western pop, Indian classical music, and blues while remaining grounded in his country's tradition." Diabaté comes from a long line of kora players in Mali, and the article calls his playing style "seamless...intertwines bass line, accompaniment, and melody for both traditional as well as modernized kora playing, which Diabaté largely invented himself." Read the full artice at sfbg.com.

The San Francisco Chronicle also recently interviewed Diabaté in advance of his November 5th performance at the Herbst Theatre. Writer Jonathan Curiel asked Diabaté about the importance of the griot in Malian music, and his collaborations with Bjork and Taj Mahal. Read the full interview at sfgate.com.

For tour information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.