Savane

1	Erdi 4:42
2	Yer Bounda Fara 4:18
3	Beto 4:49
4	Savane 7:43
5	Soya 4:38
6	Penda Yoro 5:25
7	Machengoidi 3:35
8	Ledi Coumbe 3:16
9	Hanana 2:34
10	Soko Yhinka 5:05
11	Gambari Didi 3:49
12	Banda 3:48
13	N'Jarou 4:55

Barnes & Noble

Mali's preeminent musician, the guitarist Ali Farka Toure, recorded his final album shortly before his death in March 2006. Comprising those final sessions, plus material recorded at the time of his duet album with Toumani Diabate (In the Heart of the Moon) and in his own studio, Savane is a fitting capstone for a towering career. Primarily acoustic, it harkens back to Toure's beginnings as a troubadour on Radio Mali. But backed as he is here by two ngoni players, it's a sharper, more aggressive sound. Famed for his collaboration with Ry Cooder, Toure runs the show, with occasional post-production touches by JB sax man Pee Wee Ellis and harmonica player Little George Seuref. Closer to his home in Niafunké, Mali, comes Fanga Diawara, a fellow Sonrai musician who plays the bowed violin-like njarka. For the last decade of his life, Toure needed to be coaxed into recording, but Savane commands his utmost attention, and it shows in the carefully arranged songs, many which stretch past the five-minute mark. Billed cheekily as "the King of the desert blues singers," a nod to Robert Johnson, Toure highlights the arid sound that echoes through the music of John Lee Hooker and other guitar icons, even when his material, as on Savane, is traditional. The result is a master at the height of his powers, and a recording that washes over the listener like a dry, hot desert wind at dusk. Mark Schwartz

Entertainment Weekly

An elegant summation of [Toure's] work. (A) Will Hermes

The Independent

The final album from the great Malian desert blues guitarist finds Ali Farka Touré going back to his roots, with his distinctive guitar stylings. Andy Gill