The source of the Niger River? The source of the blues? Ali Farka Toure is one of the great African guitarists--one who has experimented in the most subtle of ways, seeking inspiration but never creating fusions with other popular music styles. The Source is more roots and less fronds than his Ry Cooder recording Talking Timbuktu; this earlier recording did find him working with Taj Mahal and harmonica player Rory McLeod, but mostly this is a recording with his amazing band, calabash players Amadou Sisse and Hamma Sankare and conga player Oumar Toure, plus a chorus of singers. The emphasis is on the guitar of Toure and the source of the music, the soil of Mali itself. --Louis Gibson