National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Over the past 15 years, Toumani Diabaté, one of Mali's most renowned solo musicians and undisputed master of the kora (a 21-stringed harp-lute), has also quietly emerged as a great band leader. On most Friday nights in Bamako, the country's capital, Toumani (pictured, photo © Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos) leads his now legendary Symmetric Orchestra at the popular Hogon club. There the Grammy-winning artist and his band—drawn from various parts of West Africa—re-interpret and refresh the djeli repertoire (also known as griot—the hereditary musicians and oral historians of the Mande peoples) of the former Malian empire. Last Friday evening at Carnegie Hall's intimate Zankel Hall, the Symmetric made their live New York debut with a finely pared-down ensemble of djelis: just 8 musicians and 2 vocalists from Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Their performance was filled with brilliant musical complexities, dramatic harmonies, and virtuosic improvisations, whose impassioned arrangements centered on the heart of Toumani's kora lead.

During an intensely emotional 90 minute-long set without intermission that seemed to flow by in timeless sequence, the band performed 7 songs: The celebratory "Kaira" (Happiness), title track from Toumani's first 1987 solo album, sung in Maninka and Soninke; the Bamana pentatonic minor-key praise song to"Bambagoutie," the hunter hero who helped halt desertification in his region, sung in Bambara; the praise song to Toumani and his lineage, "Toumani," that riffed on for 20 minutes with balaphon and guitar duets with Toumani's "talking kora" plucks and rippling trills, sung in Maninka; "Yayando," urging the mother to teach her child to beware foreigners who exploit Africa's natural resources and cause wars, sung in Khassonke; "Diaraby," the classic Mande love song, performed as instrumental; the crowd-pleaser, "Boulevard de l'Indépendance," sung in Khassonke; and an instrumental African salsa encore, "Africa Challenge."

The true art of the djeli lies in the ability to improvise, to create newer versions of the old Mande repertoire. The entire group of master musicians and singers exemplified Toumani's inspirational powers as they expressed the virtues of courage and bravery, the glory of historical leadership, and the importance of love, happiness and peace.

They declaimed, conversed, and tossed musical phrases back and forth with each other. Fodé Lassana Diabaté's balaphon (hard-wood xylophone) runs with occasional angular, chromatic scales struck microtonal timbre to Toumani's kora melodies; Ganda Tounkara's twinkling ngoni (fretless lute) texture enhanced kora and balaphon through counterpoint and ostinatos; Fanta Mady Kouyaté's electric guitar continuously entwined and embellished the kora lines; Boubacar Diabaté's djembe volleys signaled intros and rhythmic tempo shifts to faster dance rhythms in the arrangements, some similar to Cuban son montuno structures, while interlocking with Mohamed Koita on bass and the exceptional traps drummer, Fodé Kouyaté; and Mamadou Fofana on keyboards was most convincing when replicating flute, horns and piano.

As the voice is the most cherished aspect of Mande music, the two featured singers, Soumaila Kanouté and Mamadou Kouyaté were perfectly balanced in their contrasting styles—Soumaila, a joyous, passionate tenor, born in Kita, one of the most important, historic Maninka djeli centers, and Mamadou from Ségou, the stronghold of the Bamana hunter's culture, with his subtle vocals ranging between a hushed baritone, sometimes lifting beatifically to a high tenor.

Toumani's genius constantly cued, tempered and unified the band's harmonies and rhythms with his ringing kora, as he infused his phrasings with alternating deep, meditative dignity and exuberant, climactic episodes. After he introduced the members of his group, Toumani prodded the full house in Zankel Hall, "Tekere, tekere, tekere!" (Put your hands together and clap!).

The first glimpse of the Symmetric Orchestra for the outside world appeared on the intriguing 2006 release Boulevard de l'Indépendance (World Circuit/Nonesuch) with over 20 core musicians, six lead vocalists and chorus from many of the ancient Mande (Malian) Empire's regional countries, and added-on studio horn and string sections, totaling 53 musicians.

While not on tour, the full Symmetric Orchestra plays most every Friday night at the Hogon club back home in Bamako. The full orchestra is mainly composed of numerous superb djeli musicians and vocalists—each of whom was born in different parts of the old Mande (Malian) Empire. That original Mande Empire once spanned many small West African kingdoms, and was united under King Sunjata Keita's epic rule during the 13th century. During the colonial period, this empire was carved up into several modern-day countries: Mali, Guinea, southern Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, northeastern regions of Sierra Leone and Liberia, northwestern regions of the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, and northern Ghana.

Through his Symmetric Orchestra, Toumani Diabaté transcends those artificial political boundaries by reuniting the interrelated djeli musical traditions of the Mande Empire. He reconstitutes the traditional djeli instrumentation accompaniment—the kora, the ngoni, and the balaphon, along with djembe and dundun percussion, and creates irresistible contemporary flair by bringing in electric guitars and bass, keyboard and drum kit, somewhat similar to the wildly popular urban dance bands from the 60's and 70's throughout the region—Rail Band, Bembeya Jazz, Orchestra Baobab, among many others.

Yet, while the latter were closely identified with specific countries and the promise of the independence era, Toumani's musical ambitions and strategies are far more expansive and pervasive: While he preserves heritage between younger and older generations, just as importantly, he is decolonizing approaches to African music through re-explorations of the shared djeli repertoire of hundreds of melodies and songs with countless variants familiar to the entire Mande region. The spirit is new, modern, compelling.

The Symmetric Orchestra signifies equality among all its musicians and its strength lies in cultural diversities. King Sunjata lives on through his vast musical empire.