The Touré-Raichel Collective (Mali / Israel)

The Touré-Raichel Collective unites Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré & Israeli keyboardist Idan Raichel—two celebrated artists from different continents and traditions whose friendship began by chance at the Berlin airport in 2008. Touré carries forward the legacy of his father, the legendary Ali Farka Touré, blending desert blues with modern influences. Raichel is known for collaborations that bridge cultures and languages, infusing pop, folk, and global sounds with a distinctive Israeli sensibility. Their debut, The Tel Aviv Session (2012), was recorded in a single day of improvisation; their follow-up, The Paris Session (2014), reaffirmed their chemistry, adding guest musicians and expanding their palette. The Collective’s music has been celebrated worldwide as a living testament to the unifying power of music

across borders.

Featured Songs:

“Diaraby,” originally from The Touré-Raichel’s second album The Paris Session and featured on Putumayo Discovery's Cultural Crossroads, is a rendition of one of the best-known songs by African guitar legend Ali Farka Touré, Vieux’s father. “What is wrong my love? It is you I love / Your mother has told you not to marry me / Because I have nothing, but I love you / Do not be angry, do not cry / Do not be sad because of love.”

“Soumbou Toure,” from The Paris Session, features Malian musician Dialimory Sissoko on n’goni, a traditional West African lute with a dry, percussive tone and deep cultural roots among griots. On Instrumental Odyssey, its rhythmic plucking intertwines with Touré’s fluid guitar and Raichel’s shimmering keyboards, creating a hypnotic groove that feels both intimate and expansive.

On the Global Guitars track “Hawa,” Touré’s desert blues guitar and Raichel’s piano circle each other in an intuitive, free-flowing dialogue. Touré’s guitar carries the hypnotic, sinuous quality inherited from the Malian tradition, while Raichel responds with lyrical piano phrases. Souleymane Kane’s calabash and Yossi Fine’s bass provide a gentle rhythmic pulse beneath the interplay. The result is an extended meditation that feels both ancient and spontaneous, as if the music is discovering itself in real time.

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