Sona Jobarteh, Ablaye Cissoko and Cyrille Brotto on #SessionLive
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Kora is in the spotlight on #SessionLive with Sona Jobarteh (GB/Gambia) and Ablaye Cissoko (Senegal).
Cora Virtuoso | singer | Create | Educator | Active: This is what is written on the Sona Jobarteh website and it is true.
Sona Jobareth He was born in 1983 in London (Great Britain) in a family of griots (by his father). Songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, cello, piano, harpsichord and kora), Sona Jobarteh, also known as Sona Jobarteh, is one of the rare women born into a Griot family to become a professional kora player. After discovering music with his older brother, the Anglo-Gambian artist asks his father: Sanjally Jobarteh (Toumani Diabaté’s first cousin), teaching him the art of kora and the secrets of Mandinka music. Which he accepted on the condition that he would find a way to avoid comments like “He plays kora well for a woman…”. Sona Jobarteh founded a school in Gambia in addition to her musical activities.Gambia Academyand tell us your thoughts on education in Africa.
He studied at the Royal College of Music in Kensington (cello, piano and harpsichord) and then at the Purcell School of Music in Bushey (composition).
Ballaké performs a duet with Cissoko on the album Djourou watch the video.
Watch his duet with his son Siddiqui on CNN.
Sona releases a new album Badinyaa Kumoo. He came to #SessionLive to play 2 tracks from the record.
Titles were performed at RFI’s Grand studio
– Dunoo Live RFI Watch the RFI video
– Gambia, CD extract Badinyaa Kumoo watch the video
– Musolo, CD extract Badinyaa Kumoo
– Kambengwo feat youss Ndour, CD extract Badinyaa Kumoo
– Ballack Live RFI Watch the RFI video.
Row: Sona Jobarteh (vocals, kora, guitar) and Eric Appapolay (guitar, vocals).
Voice: Benoit Lethirant.
► album Badinyaa Kumoo (2022).
Sona Jobarteh to read RFI Music.
Then we buy Ablaye Cissoko and Cyrille Brotto at #SessionLive for the album release Moment.
It was Cyril who invented the accordion in Vienna in 1829, and when it comes to Cora, he is almost synonymous with the name Cissoko. Ablaye Cissoko and Cyrille Brotto, carry a long legacy of musical history with them. Somewhere between the harp and the lute, the Kora spreads in harmonics, while the accordion improvises its choruses, seemingly playing with silences, solids and spaces to add depth. Here, of course, we are in the Mandingo tradition with the angelic voice of the Griot Ablaye Cissoko, the “sender”, but we are also Yann Tiersenik, as if “Amélie Poulain” sent us a postcard from Senegal. A waltz between two knowledges, a conversation between two scientific instruments, is what this meeting offers us.
Ablaye Cissoko & Cyrille Brottoalbum Moment “Meeting”, it is no coincidence that this instrumental takes place in the middle of the disc, like a romantic stroll through the streets of a stone city, a sweet conversation between friends, projected out of time. Since 2002, Ablaye Cissoko has been touring the world with her choir, and Cyril also loves to share his knowledge and explain his music, especially in educational videos on the Internet, their dialogue is rich without a doubt. What about this famous meeting? This is done in the living room, at home, at Cyrille’s, where Ablaye hosts a concert in complete privacy for his wife and friends. Their partnership is immediate, it’s this camaraderie and this interest in the other that we hear on this disc, each adapting their technique to the codes and keys of the other. A human adventure that looks into the spleen of the uprooted, titled Deme Deme, explains why the world does not turn, as Ablaye sings with overwhelming emotion: “The world is changing. The collapse of the economy drives young people to emigrate, but these young people are the future of the country. We can only pray for the prayers of our mothers, the nutritious roots of our society that is completely falling apart. May the Almighty God come to our aid…” The most beautiful harmonies will always arise from friendship and meeting.
Titles were performed at RFI’s Grand studio
– No Live RFI (instrumental)
– SignolaCD extract Moment
– Third Z Live RFI watch the video.
Row: Ablaye Cissokokora song Cyrille Brottoaccordion.
Voice: Fabien Mugneret, Benoît Letirant.
► album Moment (My Case 2022/Absilone).
