COMPOSERS: Segal,Sissoko
LABELS: No Format!
PERFORMER: Sissoko (kora), Segal (cello)
CATALOGUE NO: NOF 5321442
At an unusually rich time for African releases, the most exploratory music belongs to a well-practised collaboration. Vinvcent Segal often works with African colleagues: he appears on Salif Keita’s release, and this recording with Ballaké Sissoko took place in Keita’s Bamako studio.
The title, Chamber Music, is apt: these are conversations beyond words. In a calm, considered ambience, the two players listen closely and judge timbres with sensitivity, often choosing pizzicato to balance the kora. A handful of guests extend the textures, but essentially they support the intimate duets, well-matched in style and wholly captivating. Robert Maycock