''Talking Timbuktu'' is the 1994 collaboration album between

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

an guitarist

Ali Farka Touré Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music blends traditional Malian music and its deriv ...

and American guitarist/producer

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

. The guitar riff from the song "Diaraby" was selected for the Geo-quiz segment of ''

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

'' PRI-BBC radio program and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote by the listeners. In 2009, the album was awarded a gold certification from the

Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...

which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.

Reception

The album features in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

'' and received the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best World Music album of 1994.

Track listing

# "Bonde" – 5:28 # "Soukora" – 6:05 # "Gomni" – 7:00 # "Sega" – 3:10 # "Amandrai" – 9:22 # "Lasidan" – 6:06 # "Keito" – 5:42 # "Banga" – 2:32 # "Ai Du" – 7:09 # "Diaraby" – 7:25

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Collaborative albums Ali Farka Touré albums Ry Cooder albums World Circuit (record label) albums Grammy Award for Best World Music Album