OUT OF THE SHADOWS
DUBBED “THE HENDRIX OF THE SAHARA,” VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ TALKS
ABOUT GROWING UP IN THE SHADOW OF A FAMOUS DAD, HIS UNIQUE
TWO-FINGERED STRUMMING APPROACH, AND HAVING DAVE MATTHEWS
AND JOHN SCOFIELD JOIN HIM ON HIS NEW ALBUM, THE SECRET—ONE
OF THE FRESHEST-SOUNDING GUITAR ALBUMS OF 2011.
BY JASON SHADRICK
Understanding a genre’s lineage helps you connect dots over time to understand how music interconnects and evolves. Nothing
illustrates this better than the blues, whose evolution can be traced
through many different generations and geographic regions. You can
see the progression from America, beginning with the earthy Delta
style of players such as Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, and then
Muddy Waters helped morph it into a gritty, urban blues, and before
long the genre had hopped over the Atlantic to the UK and led to
the high-energy solos of Eric Clapton and the dirty swagger of the
Rolling Stones. The cycle will keep going in perpetuity—especially
with the ease of global information transfer that technology affords
today—and all of it will continue to inform modern blues and blues-
rock. The Secret, the latest release from Malian guitarist Vieux Farka
Touré, is a great example of this.
Vieux Farka
Touré capos his
Godin Summit CT
and hits a joyous
chord during a
gig in Sydney,
Australia. Photo
by Daniel Boud
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2011 83
