Vieux Farka Touré + Gitkin at the Lodge Room

Vieux Farka Touré, often called “The Hendrix of the Sahara,” has spent nearly two decades carving out a legacy that both honors and transcends the towering influence of his father, the legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré.

Born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981, Vieux initially played drums and calabash before secretly picking up the guitar in 2001—a move his father resisted, wanting his son to become a soldier rather than endure the pressures of a musician’s life. With the help of kora maestro Toumani Diabaté, Vieux eventually earned his father’s blessing shortly before Ali’s passing in 2006.

What followed has been a remarkable journey of artistic evolution: from his 2007 self-titled debut, which featured some of Ali’s final recordings, through genre-bending collaborations with Israeli superstar Idan Raichel, singer Julia Easterlin, and Houston psych-rock luminaries Khruangbin—whose joint album Ali earned the praise of Sir Elton John, who called it “one of the albums of the year.” His 2022 solo release Les Racines on World Circuit Records/BMG marked a masterful return to the deep Desert Blues roots his father introduced to the world.

A passionate advocate for Mali and the Sahel region, Vieux founded the charity Amahrec Sahel and serves as director of The Ali Farka Touré Foundation. Whether performing with dazzling speed and dexterity or crafting intimate studio recordings, he continues to broaden his horizons with each new project, cementing his reputation as one of the world’s most talented and innovative musicians.

New Orleans-based Gitkin—also known as Brian J Gitkin—is a Grammy-nominated artist and producer whose instrumental music lives in the spaces between traditions, drawing from dub echo chambers, surf guitar tones, deep funk pockets, and modal melodies that hint at places far from any single origin.

Known for his work with Cedric Burnside, Bab L’ Bluz, Bernard Purdie, and Cyril Neville, and as the mastermind behind the internationally beloved funk ensemble Pimps Of Joytime, Gitkin has built a global following with monthly streams surpassing 300,000. In 2022, he assembled a touring trio featuring Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Simon Moushabeck and Cuban-American drummer Washington Duke, creating a live dynamic that weaves hypnotic grooves, desert-tinged melodies, and deep rhythmic interplay into something both transportive and visceral. The trio has since toured extensively across the U.S. and Europe, selling out headline shows and supporting acts like Steel Pulse and Thee Sinseers. His forthcoming album Where the South Winds Wail, arriving May 23, 2026 via Wonderwheel Recordings, was largely recorded alone in his New Orleans studio—a city whose spirit shows up less as reference and more as atmosphere, a weight in the air that shapes how the music breathes.