Ali Farka Toure

Ali Farka Toure was dying when he recorded this album, and he knew it. But Savane does not reek of death: the album, more desolate and beautiful than anything Toure's ever done, has at its heart an experimental joy, even as Toure returns to traditional instruments like the ngoni (an African lute) and to the Fulani and Songhai music of his birthplace. It's a homecoming that frees his sometimes stark music to find a deeper, fuller groove and more stylistic variation, anchored as always by his ageless voice and keening guitar.