Ali Farka Touré trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to themasses. Dubbed ‘the African John Lee Hooker’, one could hear strongconnections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with grittytextures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence ofBlack blues music prevailed, Touré created a West African blend of ‘desertblues’ that garnered Grammy awards and widespread reverence.  Though he transcended in 2006, Ali’s musical legacy lives on through hisson, Vieux aka ‘the Hendrix of the Sahara’, an accomplished guitarist andchampion of Malian music in his own right. On ‘Ali’, his collaborative albumwith Khruangbin, Vieux pays homage to his father by recreating some of hismost resonant work, putting new twists on it while maintaining the original’sintegrity. The result is a rightful ode to a legend.  ‘Ali’ isn’t just a greatest hits compilation. It’s a lullaby, a remembrance of Ali’slife through known highlights and B-sides from his catalogue. It is atestament to what happens when creativity is approached through open armsand open hearts. “To me, music is magic, it is spontaneous, it is the energybetween people,” Vieux says. “I think Khruangbin understands this very well.” The genesis of the album dates back to 2019, when Khruangbin, coming offtheir breakthrough album ‘Con Todo el Mundo’, were beginning to play tobigger crowds. The record was finished in 2021, as a global pandemicshuttered businesses and forced us all to take stock of what Earth wasbecoming.  Indirectly, ‘Ali’ captures this as a moment of peace within a raging storm, aconversation between past and present without allegiance to suffering. Now,given Khruangbin’s reach as a unit with legions of fans (including the likes ofJay-Z and Paul McCartney), they’re poised to bring Malian music to broadergroups of listeners.