Artist

John Lee Hooker

1940s-2001·Mississippi/Detroit

Ali Farka Touré first heard John Lee Hooker's droning, hypnotic blues in 1968, and the recognition was immediate and personal: this, he said, was something 'that belongs to us.' Hooker's sound, built in Mississippi and later Detroit across a career stretching from the 1940s until his death in 2001, became the constant touchstone Western critics reached for when describing Touré's guitar style, even as Touré himself argued the influence ran the other way, from the Sahel to the Mississippi Delta and not back again.

The full story is in Mali Desert Blues.

At a glance

Active
1940s–2001
From
Mississippi/Detroit, USA

In the issues

  • Mali Desert Blues
    An influence · 1968-present · Members

    Mali Desert Blues is a genre from Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya (Sahara/Sahel region), 1968–present. Its principal artists include Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen and Ibrahim Ag Alhabib. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 14 dated events.