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Toure grew up, and still lives, in Niafunke, a village of about 6,000 on the banks of the Niger in Mali. When he was young, he harbored musical ambitions, which were thwarted because neither of his parents belonged to a Griot caste, whose members are historically responsible for Mali's song and dance. But Toure was adamant.

He joined the village's cultural music and dance troupe, rising rapidly to become its director. Along the way, he danced and sang in his native language -- Songhai -- and other dialects and played several instruments, including the single-string guitar and violin. He picked up a Western guitar in 1956, after a chance meeting with Keita Fodeba, director of Guinea's National Ballet. Soon, it became his obsession and during his teens and 20s he transferred his country's music from the traditional instruments to their Western cousin.

Then, in 1968, the same year a friend introduced him to the music of John Lee Hooker, Toure bought a six-string electric guitar while touring in Bulgaria. Toure insists his music grew on its own, but his sound -- a pluck-heavy groove paced with pregnant pauses -- echoes Hooker's, as if a call and response sounded across the Atlantic. Regardless of influence, the association with Hooker's sound helped draw British producer Nick Gold and helped make "Talking Timbuktu," his 1994 album with Ry Cooder, both a Grammy winner and an eight-month top-seller on Billboard's world music charts. And now, that aural brotherhood is confirming Toure's role as Mali's ambassador of music.

Malian music, by the way, while on the road to reaching a global audience, has made a few unfortunate detours. Two Malian musicians -- guitarist Jalimadi Tounkara and ngoni-player Bassekou Koyate -- were scheduled to record in Havana as part of what became "Buena Vista Social Club," which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Instead, their passports failed to arrive in time, and they and their country's music were left behind, at least temporarily.

But Tounkara and Koyate's missed opportunity is beginning to look more like a postponement than a cancellation. Three months after the widely popular Africa Fete tour brought Malian talent to American shores, Western listeners are slowly discovering Mali's appeal. They have much to discover. Ali Farka Toure has just released a new, richly nuanced album named after his hometown, which is where it was recorded. Meanwhile, American musician Taj Mahal also has a new offering, "Kulanjan," which mixes the blues with the sounds of ngoni-player Toumani Diabate, among others. And several more Malian artists have recordings in the works. Perhaps no single album will ascend the Everest of "Buena Vista's" popularity, but together these musicians have caught a collective ear.

"There is a broad, general gravitation to this music," says Banning Eyre, author of "In Griot Time: An American Guitarist in Mali," which will be published in April. "Over the past 15 years, a lot of African music has been foisted on the American public, and not much has taken hold. But if you take a look at who is currently signed by major record companies -- Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate, Habib Koite, Salif Keita -- you simply cannot name another African country that has as many artists signed to major American labels. There's a natural selection process that happens, and I think Malian music has risen on its own merits."

Ironically, Toure remains a somewhat reluctant participant. After "Timbuktu," he toured, but quickly tired of the chew-and-spit cycle of Western audiences. According to his friends, Toure grew cynical and longed for home. When he gave up the tour, he turned down the potential for more stardom, not to mention dollars.

"He was developing this irrigation project," Gold says, speaking from the London office of World Circuit Records. "And it's quite a desolate landscape there. Toure is not one to start and not finish a project, so that was important to him because when he isn't there nothing gets done. Also, he started to become disillusioned with the music world. He felt that growing and farming were more important. He said he had lost the desire to play because he was away from the source of his music, away from his inspiration."

Gold had wanted to make another recording with Toure. Instead, two years ago they made a deal: When Toure was ready, Gold would come to him. That day came just before sales of Gold's previous on-site project -- "Buena Vista" -- took off. Gold had tried once before to record Toure on location, but with only a DAT machine, the drums drowned out the guitar and the recordings never made it to market.

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