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Duke Arts Presents

Vieux Farka Touré

Saturday, September 13, 2014 | 8:00 pm

Reynolds Industries Theater


A Mali native, Vieux Farka Touré is the son of the late guitar luminary Ali Farka Touré, and he carries on the musical legacy he absorbed at his father’s feet. Touré extends the family tradition of creating pathbreaking music that is “both joyous and haunting, hooked up to deep tradition, but an essential soundtrack to modern urban Africa” (Mojo).

For his Duke Performances debut, Touré comes to Durham with his acoustic quartet, perhaps the best vehicle for his dazzling guitar playing and deft songwriting. Already an international star, and “set to be Africa’s next guitar hero” (Guardian), Touré’s sound continues to develop from the traditional music he inherited. Touré says of his recent work, “My music is more mature now, more evolved. It digs deeper into the past and, at the same time, pushes harder into the future.”

Made possible, in part, with support from the Duke Africa Initiative, a faculty-led initiative that brings together scholars from across the University and Health System who have a shared interest, whether through their research or programmatic activities, in the countries and cultures of the African continent.