Touki

'Touki' means 'journey' in the Senegalese language of Wolof. It is also the name of the collective created by British-Senegalese musician Amadou Diagne and Franco-American Cory Seznec. Together with producer Oscar Cainer, they have created two albums and toured throughout the England, France and beyond.

About Touki

Touki's sound infuses East and West African styles and traditions with Appalachian banjo, folk motifs, and orchestral arrangements. On their latest album, Diagne’s powerful percussion, Seznec’s syncopated guitar-picking and rapid-fire banjo-frailing, and guest string player Duncan Wickel’s cello-grooves provide a rhythmic foundation, while vocals, kora and violins add beautiful texture and emotional depth. The scorching sounds of Endris Hassen’s masenqo (one-stringed bowed lute) are peppered throughout both of their records, providing punctual pitstops at an Ethiopian azmari-bet, while in live settings Michael Ward-Bergeman's hyper-accordion swirls through the air in a tidal wave of atmospheric resonance.

Although their material is rooted in the close connection of founding members Diagne and Seznec with the addition of guest appearances from around the world, on the road Touki performs as a trio or quartet with master accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman and/or ingenious cello innovator Duncan Wickel, or French 5-string fiddle wizard Marius Pibarot.

PRESS

“A scintillating sequel to Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder’s Talking Timbuktu”

- Rolling Stone

“Gritty, attractive, scintillating… enough inventive ideas to fill not just one but several albums.”

- Songlines

“Diagne’s soaring, soulful Senegalese and Seznec’s softer lower register in English work beautifully as a duet”

- The Australian

“An intoxicating mix… infectious grooves and toe tapping melodies impressive and delightful all come together to create a classic but contemporary sound. Theirs is a journey well worth undertaking and this is an album verging on the essential”

- RnR Magazine

Studio Performance: 'Yirmane'
Live Performance: 'Tellem Dreams'

These videos are performances of the song 'Yirmane' in a Parisian recording studio and 'Tellem Dreams' live in Skipton, Yorkshire while touring England in 2025. Both songs feature on Touki's album 'Plastic Man', with Yirmane a call to end political corruption in Dakar and elsewhere sung in Amadou's Senegalese language of Wolof, and 'Tellem Dreams' a musical rumination on the Tellem people, whose ancient Malian cliff face dwellings provide a tantalising glimpse into a West-African culture lost to history.

Touki's album 'Plastic Man' focuses on climate change, environmental activism and spiritual matters - weaving together African fables, personal stories with social, economic and political questions facing our world. The photography for the album taken by Italian photo journalist Giulio Piscitelli in the Libyan desert, harks both to the continually unfolding human tragedy of displaced populations, and the plague of plastic pollution.

Touki - 'Plastic Man’ - #4 album on World Music Charts Europe / #2 release on Global Village