Tuesday, April 11, 2006     
Princes of Musique Mandingue 
By Michael Shereikis 
If you haven't already checked out Ba Cissoko's latest album, Sabolan, you may want to have a look. Guinean Ba Cissoko (kora) comes from mande musical royalty (son of Kandara Cissoko, founder of Ballet Djoliba), and has teamed up with Sekou Kouyaté (traditional and electric koras) and Kourou Kouyaté (electric bass), both sons of the great kora master, M'bady Kouyate. Together with Ibrahima Bah on percussion, this band is generating some fierce sounds that stretch the boundaries of traditional mandingue music. Purists may howl, but it will only add to the energy of this hard driving quartet. 

Brilliant musicians, and sons of mandingue musical royalty, Ba Cissoko is just the sort of group that keeps a musical tradition living and breathing.

Listen to samples from Sabolan
Ba Cissoko - Griot Ba
The electric guitar has a documented history of over 70 years, ever since George Beauchamp built his "frying pan" electric lap steel guitars. The electric kora has a history of approximately one seventieth of that, ever since the release of Ba Cissoko's 2006 album Electric Griot Land. Did his fans turn on him, like Dylan's famously did at Newport and Manchester Free Trade Hall? No, they bloody loved it, largely because they're not narrow-minded ideologues.

The electric kora in this four piece band is actually being played by Cissoko's cousin, Sekou Kouyaté, who feeds his instrument through a wah-wah pedal, letting it squawk and whoop through the riffs he contributes to the interplay. Cissoko has assembled a fantastic group here: they're busy, but never sound cluttered, even with these new sounds added into the mix. Griot Ba is the album opener; it's fresh and energetic, like some bright distillation of pleasure. Well worth listening to, and not just for its historical significance.

Ba Cissoko
Seno
The third album from Guinea's Ba Cissoko proves to be uplifting.
March 5, 2009
Sterns Africa
Like the kora played by its eponymous leader, the music made by Ba Cissoko is graceful, rooted in tradition and, much of the time, quietly spoken. It's also forward and outward looking: on Seno, second kora player Sekou Kouyate continues his imaginative exploration of effects pedals, and guest guitarist Abdoulaye Kouyate, who is heard on most tracks, generally favours a fuzzed-up, though understated and lyrically inclined, electric instrument.

Abdoulaye Kouyate's contribution is the element which most overtly distinguishes the new album from its immediate predecessor, Electric Griot Land (Totolo, 2006). On that album, Cissoko's kora was as frequently heard in counterpoint with Sekou Kouyate's balafon (marimba) as it was with his electric kora. On Seno, the balafon, played by guest artist Karamoko Bangoura, is heard on only one track, "Conakry," a pretty love song to Guinea's capital. While effects-driven electric guitar is an engaging part of Seno's overall sound, some listeners may hope that the sidelining of the balafon is only temporary.

Other developments include the absorption of Latin and Iberian musics—the salsa tinged arrangement of the title tune features some nimble flamenco-esque acoustic guitar—and, over about half the album, tempos which are significantly brisker than those used on Electric Griot Land. Reggae influences, present on the earlier album, are heard again, on the neo-dub touches to "Bambo" and "Nina," and the chopping acoustic guitar on "Chauffeur Taxi." The disc closes with the kora duet "Soumou," as lovely as a spring morning.

The sound is homespun and samples free; it's respectful of the tradition it comes from—Ba Cissoko and his cousins Sekou and bassist Ibrahima Kourou Kouyate come from a long line of Guinean griots—but is not overburdened by it. Relying not at all on post-production artifice, the music works as well live as it does in the studio, and Ba Cissoko have already made a significant international impact on tours alongside artists like Nigerian Afrobeat originator Fela Anikulapo Kuti's son, Femi. Seno is certain to extend that wider following.

Ba Cissoko's music doesn't force itself upon you. Rather, it embraces you gently, like a friend. And as with a good friend, the listener feels happier for the meeting.

More Reviews, Interviews and Press about Ba Cissoko