Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra

"Full of virtuoso technique... the blend lives up to the band's title and everything fits with perfect symmetry. Five Stars."--Song Lines

A giant on the African music scene, Toumani Diabate serves as both a caretaker of griot tradition and an ardent experimentalist, transforming his intimate sound with this large ensemble's powerful, multilayered approach.

$5 tickets for teens (ages 13-18) are available through High 5 Tickets to the Arts. Click here for details. Diabaté, from Mali, comes from a lineage of griots. A master of the kora--the 21-string harp unique to Africa--he is best known in this country for In the Heart of the Moon, his Grammy-winning collaboration with the late great guitarist Ali Farka Toure.

The Symmetric Orchestra, Diabate's terrific pan-African band, can be heard on his acclaimed follow-up CD, Boulevard de l'Independence. Players from Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Mali come together in the ensemble, with instrumentation that includes electric guitar, bass, and drums, as well as the more traditional kora, ngoni, and balafon. All contribute to the buoyantly jubilant sound that has enlivened the Symmetric Orchestra's joyous Friday night sessions at Bamako's Hogon club. Join in the party spirit!