Following the reissue of Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko’s New Ancient Strings, in January Chrysalis will release Diabaté’s debut album, 1988’s Kaira.

Toumani Diabaté was 58 years old. Diabaté’s legacy as a 71st-generation kora player was indebted to traditional applications of the classical instrument—including spiritual and meditative ...

The untimely death of Toumani Diabaté last summer makes his sometime collaborator (on the groundbreaking album New Ancient Strings) Ballaké Sissoko undisputedly Mali’s finest living kora player.

One early stopgap was creating a floor stand for the kora, which enabled a player to toggle between two or even three differently tuned instruments. But the lasting solution was the addition of ...

“The Hendrix of the Kora” Music News With a big African Heart, virtuoso kora player Seckou Keita and his international quintet are not to be confined to any one genre, dipping comfortably in ...

Sidiki Diabaté in concert at Paris La Défense Arena in February 2025 Sidiki Diabaté announces his return to the capital! Join the famous Malian singer, musician, composer and instrumentalist in ...

Singer and virtuoso kora player Wassa Kouyaté will be accompanied by Balla Kouyaté, a virtuoso player of the balafon (West African xylophone). “Oral tradition holds that when the emperor Sundiata ...