The world music community is in mourning over the loss of the great and gentle Ali Farka Toure. The outpouring of love and respect for Ali Farka Toure from the Afropop community is beautiful.  Included are a sampling of expressions of loss and reflection for the Malian blues man we affectionately call ALI.  View all tributes and add your contribution to our community forum page your memories of Ali Farka Toure, RIP.

Listen to Afropop's Banning Eyre's tribute to Ali on NPR's "All Things Considered."

I loved the man, his music, I regret that I missed his show at the Smithsonian festival in 2003 in Washington DC. I am from Algeria, his music speaks to me, he blends different languages of Mali....a true humanist. ALI, I loved you, I love you and I will always love you. All my deepest thoughts to him, his familly and friends. Rest in peace.
--Kamel Zennia

Like everyone, we were saddened by the news of the passing of Ali Farka Toure. Truly one of the greatest artists of our generation was lost. His recordings were incredible but seeing him live was even more of a treat. My wife and I were priveleged enough to have been at the historic "Festival in the Desert" in January 2003 which featured many of the musical treasures of West Africa.

We will never forget those three days in the middle of the Sahara Desert being treated to some of the most extraordinary artists throughout the day and night. There are so many great memories from that trip but two that stand out were seeing Ali Farka Toure sitting around a campfire one night, guitar in hand, with many of the participating artists (including Robert Plant) just belting out the music into the wee hours of the night. You had to be there...it was priceless.

The other memorable moment was how the festival came to a close. Ali Farke Toure was the final performer of the three day extravaganza and we were instructed to have all of our belongings packed in our 4X4 ready to go immediately after his performance. He was in grand form that night inviting a whole array of musicians and dancers on stage with him. It was one of those nights you never wanted to end. But when it did (at around 2am) we all scattered into our 4x4 and proceeded in a giant caravan back to Timbuktu.

Our last memory of the festival in Essakane was Ali Farka Toure flashing his trademark smile giving us a musical postcard to last a lifetime. Really hard to give an accurate description but these two memories of Ali Farka Toure from that particular trip will forever be engraved in our memories. And to be able to see Ali Farka Toure in Mali among his people was so incredibly special.
--Michael Orlove

In 1980 I was travelling to the capital of Somalia. We stopped to get a titbit and at the reastaurant I heard music which instantly captured my attention. Nobody knew the name of the maestro. The owner of the restaurant was impressed with my enthousiasm and an hour later I left with a free copy of the cassette in my pocket. You’ve imagined it already, it was Ali Farka Touré and he hardly left my players and mind since.

‘Music is, just like her sister the love, a question of feeling and sensuality’ sings the camel-driver from the Northern Somalia. This is typical of Ali Farka Touré, who composed and sang his music with a lot of love and sensual feeling. Ali was not only a great musician; he was also a great human being: a modest but passionate advocate for human and ecological rights. His doors were always open for those who seeked hospitality. Moreover, in his songs and also at many public occasions he stood up for those who couldn’t fend for themselves. It is a pity that this aspect of his life is not well known, probably due to his modesty.

This is a big loss and my condolences go to his family and friends as well as to all those who were inspired by him. The superintelligent analphabet will be hugely missed.
--Horri Mohamed Omar

I never saw Ali Farka Toure play. I never been to Mali nor Africa, yet my heart had dropped a beat and changed forever when I first heard Ali Farka Toure's Radio Mali. In there years following this first listening, I felt I was growing close to a person I hadnt even met. I felt as though I knew his every word and emotion in his songs, although I didnt know the languages. I grew to become his friend in some strange sound/ listener dimension, completely immersed in every note, chilled and haunted, familiar and elated. I am deeply grateful and honored to have experienced Ali Farka Toure's music. I wish to extend my condolences to his family and those throught the world that were touch by such an extraordinary human as was I.
--A. Dunham