Mali's Toumani Diabaté has played his kora--the 21-string harp/lute--with Taj Mahal, Peter Gabriel, Spain's flamenco-fusion band Ketama, the 52-piece, Japanese/Malian Symmetric Orchestra, and countless jazz musicians who have sought him out in Bamako where he lives. The select fraternity of West African kora players embrace Toumani as a prodigy--the prince of the kora--but they also know he'll never be content to stay down on the farm.

"The world is changing. That's my problem," says Toumani, "My father [Sidiki Diabaté] is the king of the kora. I might be a prince, but I need experience." Toumani comes from a long line of griots, traditional praise singers, historians, and musicians. He started playing at five, and at thirteen, he debuted solo in Mali's 1978 biannual music showcase, the proving ground for young traditional players. In 1984, Toumani toured Europe as part of an 18-piece troupe performing music from Mali's numerous ethnic groups.

Returning to Europe in 1986, he recorded his first two albums. Kaira, is Toumani's calling card, an unadorned set of traditional pieces displaying stunning kora technique and a highly personalized style. Toumani's friendly approach to kora melodies suggest an ear for Western and other music. His organic constructions recall the warmer piano improvisations of Keith Jarrett--evolving through stages to rich emotional plateaus. Where other kora masters, especially from the Gambia, work in racing runs and quick, rhythmic shifts, Toumani delivers fluid, wholistic mood pieces, always maintaining bass, accompaniment, and solo lines.

Toumani acknowledges affections for everything from Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Bad Company, to Louis Armstrong, Miriam Makeba and Youssou N'Dour, to Indian classical music, Andean pipes, and rap music. People tell Toumani that they hear jazz, flamenco, or other styles in his solo work, but he says, "Malian people know exactly what I'm playing. They say, `Toumani, that's the roots.'"

Toumani's second effort, the collaboration with Ketama, Songhai, broke new ground by blending serene griot traditions with the fire of young flamencans. Songhai received well-deserved critical acclaim, but it touched nerves back home. "People told me, `Oh, that's not very good. You are changing African things. You have been influenced by Western music.' I said, `No. G in Mali is the same G in the United States, the same G in Japan, and the same G in Paris. If we just play in the traditional way, people outside West Africa cannot understand what we are doing."

Toumani's elaborate 1992 project with The Symmetric Orchestra, Shake the Whole World (Released only in Japan and Mali) confirmed his reputation as a maverick, but by then, even purists recognized the young player's singular talent. For Toumani, experimentation is part of the modern griot's work. "The griot's role is making communication between people, but not just historical communication. In Mali, I can work the traditional way. In America, I can work a different way. I can play with Taj Mahal, or Ketama, or Japanese musicians. Why not?"