Red & Green

An ocean separates Mississippi and Timbuktu, but to hear Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré is to hear how Delta blues and African folk twine together like serpents in the desert. Spartan, hypnotic, and staggering, these twin early acoustic albums align Touré with legends like John Lee Hooker and Son House.

By the mid-'90s, Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré was expanding his signature acoustic African blues by changing his instrumental palette and collaborating with Western musicians like Ry Cooder (as on 1994's Talkin' Timbuktu).

<p>(World Circuit)</p>