Hip, hip Toure

Vieux Farka Toure’s journey from growing up in the Saharan nation of Mali to becoming one of the world’s hottest up-and-coming African musicians is the stuff of myth.

Toure, the son of legendary Grammy-winning guitarist Ali Farka Toure, released his self-titled debut album late last year to critical acclaim from the world music community and publications such as the New York Times and the All Music Guide. He will perform today at the Strand Theatre in Rockland – just one stop on a world tour that has taken him far from the serenity of his hometown of Niafunke.

“Niafunke is nothing like over here – it is very calm, very relaxed. It is a quiet desert town on the Niger River,” said Toure, 25, speaking through a translator. “People will gather by the riverbank and hang out all day without worries. We have very little there materially, but in terms of family and community, we have all we ever need.”

Toure began playing music as a boy but his father forbade him from going into the competitive, cutthroat business. He wanted his son to be a soldier. But the son, driven and stubborn like his father – the nickname “farka” means “donkey” in Bambara – continued to play and record in secret and later attended school in Mali’s capital, Bamako, to study guitar.

Renowned Malian musician and family confidante Toumani Diabate saw the younger Toure’s emerging talent and encouraged him to proceed, eventually convincing Ali to give his blessing and even perform with his son. Ali Farka Toure died in 2006 at age 67, but before his death, he offered his final recordings to his son, which appear on the album. Now, Vieux performs several of his father’s songs in tribute to him.

“My favorite song to play live is ‘Ai Du,’ which is a song my father played with Ry Cooder on ‘Talking Timbuktu,'” said Toure, referring to his father’s groundbreaking 1994 album. “It reminds me of him, of my roots and my homeland and keeps my feet on the ground. In order to move forward, we must always remember our past.”

Toure’s album is a crisp, punchy collection of reggae and funk-tinged African music, built around his muscular, syncopated guitar-playing and featuring a wide array of musicians from Africa, North America and Europe.

Though the “desert blues” made so famous by his father are reflected in the younger Toure’s guitar lines, the album shows his youthful sense of experimentation, blending elements of many different genres. On “Diabate,” he accompanies Toumani Diabate, who plucks out astonishingly nimble melodies on the kora, a West African lute. Toure and company pick up a gently swaying reggae beat on “Ana.” The excellent “Courage” even flirts with straight-up rock.

“Since I’m playing with some American musicians, the music we make together is a mix of our styles and sounds,” he said. “It’s Malian blues, rock, reggae all fused together.”

Toure understands the pressure placed on him as the son of one of the greats of African music and a torchbearer for the musical traditions of his desert homeland. Fortunately, the strength of his new album shows that he is equipped to carry on that legacy in his own fresh way. Onstage, Toure says he and his band take the songs from the album and expand them so the dense rhythms are even more in the forefront.

“My live show is not what people would expect from listening to the album. It is very upbeat, lively, hot. If people aren’t up and dancing, then we are not satisfied onstage,” said Toure. “We want everyone cutting loose, and so we give them the music to do that.”

Vieux Farka Toure will perform at 8 tonight at the Strand Theatre in Rockland. Tickets are $20. Ten percent of the proceeds from sales of Toure’s album will benefit the UNICEF-affiliated “Fight Malaria” campaign in Mali. For information, visit www.vieuxfarkatoure.com. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.