National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Vieux Farka Touré, son of the legendary, Grammy-winning Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, is set to make his international debut with the release of his first album next month. The self-titled album is scheduled for a February 13th release date on the Modiba label (distributed by World Village), and will feature the final studio recordings of Ali Farka Touré.

The elder Touré, who passed away in March 2006, plays on two of the album's tracks, in a session recorded at Studio Bogolan in Bamako, Mali, shortly before Touré's final trip abroad for medical treatment in Paris. It is the only recording in existence of father and son playing together.

"Music is personal expression," says Vieux in a recent press release. "Everyone has their own ideas and their way of doing things. No one can replicate what someone else has done. I am working to follow my father's path, but that path continues into new areas. I am of a new generation, so there are things that inspire me in today's world that I put in my music, just as he did in his time."

Vieux is joined in paying homage to his father by another Malian musical giant, kora player Toumani Diabaté, who contributes to two tracks. And, with a sly, posthumous twist, Touré, père et fils honor Toumani's father, the great Sidiki Diabate, on "Tabara."

But for all the shows of respect and musical fealty, Vieux's taking up the Malian musical torch was anything but foreordained. According to the album's press materials, although Vieux had played calabash percussion as a youth, Ali wanted his son to become a soldier. But Vieux took up the guitar in secret, eventually enrolling in the Arts Institute in Bamako. When Ali realized Vieux was not going to give up on playing guitar, he enlisted his good friend Toumani Diabaté as Vieux's advisor.

But it wasn't until Ali had lost much of his movement to bone cancer, when Vieux's recording was being made, that Ali realized just how musically adept Vieux had become. According to sources, Ali played his son's new recording for all his visitors from his hospital bed, proudly telling them, "That's my son!"

Vieux Farka Touré will be backing this release with a 10-city North American tour that will be making stops in select cities in the U.S. and Canada in February. For a complete list of show dates and venues, please consult the tour website.