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Vieux Farka Toure is a Grammy-winning Malian singer-guitarist who has been dubbed as "The Hendrix of the Sahara" and named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone . The son of late Malian blues musician Ali Farka Toure, Vieux has released several albums fusing African blues, jazz and pop. His most...More

Vieux Farka Toure is a Grammy-winning Malian singer-guitarist who has been dubbed as "The Hendrix of the Sahara" and named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone. The son of late Malian blues musician Ali Farka Toure, Vieux has released several albums fusing African blues, jazz and pop. His most recent album, the critically acclaimed The Secret (Six Degrees, 2011), includes collaborations with Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, John Scofield, and Ivan Neville.

Idan Raichel is an Israeli keyboardist and composer known for blending Middle Eastern, African, and Eastern European influences. His 2002 debut album, The Idan Raichel Project, went triple platinum and changed landscape of popular music in Israel. His latest album, Traveling Home (Helicon, 2001), is a collection of performances in Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, Spanish and more, with contributions from over 40 artists from Israel, Colombia, Rwanda and Mali.

In 2008, Raichel saw Vieux in a Berlin Airport while both were on tour and Raichel introduced himself. Their impromptu meeting eventually became a meaningful friendship and collaboration which resulted in the Touré-Raichel Collective. In 2010, Raichel curated a world music concert series at the Tel Aviv Opera House and invited Vieux to perform. The next day they improvised a recording session in a small Tel Aviv studio and those songs became the foundation for their debut album, The Tel Aviv Session, released March 26, 2012 on Cumbancha. Following the success of the album, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard World Music Chart, the Toure-Raichel Collective embarked on a sold out international tour.