Lamomali Totem

20 years ago, -M- discovered Mali when he arrived in Bamako, it's aura, it's traditions, it's red earth and it's scents. He met Toumani Diabaté, heir to an ancestral line of Malian griots (the 71st generation) and master of the kora, the traditional 21-string instrument. An artistic and spiritual complicity was born and, under Toumani's impulse, inspired a joint project. Lamomali was an immediate success when it was released in 2017. The album won several awards in France, sold nearly 300, 000 copies and toured to over 500, 000 fans. At Toumani's request, again, -M- reactivated the collective. But in the summer of 2024, 8 months after the start of production on the new album, Toumani Diabaté died suddenly in Bamako, at the age of 58. "We had to finish this album, in memory of Toumani", confides Matthieu Chedid. Already in possession of Toumani's precious recordings, the griot's last, he recalls Fatoumata Diawara. And then there is Balla Diabaté, son of the late Toumani. Toumani had named him as his successor before his death. With -M- as conductor, the project relies on Fatoumata Diawara, Balla Dabaté and Toumani. In this new chapter, we find some artists already present in 2017, such as Oxmo Puccino, Amadou & Mariam from Mali, Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon, Seu Jorge from Brazil, France's Philippe Jaroussky, to whom we add Canada's Patrick Watson, Ivory Coast's Tiken Jah Fakoly, Angelique Kidjo from Benin, the young prodigy of Cameroonian origin Yâmé or Boombass - a friend for many years. "Lamomali Totem" features twelve tracks, like so many doors to the world.