Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal

I was lucky enough to catch Sissoko & Segal as support to the incredible Ngoni Ba gig at the Barbican recently. I missed the very beginning but when I finally got in to my seat I found myself completely transfixed at the performance of two genius’ of their instruments. The empathy between the Malian Kora player and the classical Cello player was palpable.

So I have been waiting with real nervous anticipation for this album to come along, hoping that it would live up to the depth and majesty of the live performance but also afraid that on record I might find it unapproachable and cold.
Cue huge release of breath – the recorded work is not only as good as the live performance but completely envelops my soul and takes my emotions in thrall with music that has so many levels it is almost indecent.

The sound of the Kora is akin to the harp but there is a faintly brittle, glasslike, quality and when it is matched with the solemn and sombre cello of Segal the overall impression is one of dark introspection but when, as on the opener ‘Chamber Music’, the Kora takes the lead supported by a delicately plucked cello the mood is light, youthful and almost childlike. The changes in mood and emotion that can be wrought by two instruments swapping roles is simply incredible.

‘Houdesti’ takes the music somewhere else entirely as a middle-eastern ‘edge’ is introduced leading into to stunning Ngoni play by Mamadou Kamississoko and Balofon courtesy of Kassery Diabate and creating a whole new set of closely imagined soundscapes.

‘Histoire De Molly’ is almost funereal in tone but the intricate Kora play gives hope and this time it is the cello that provides the variations with an Eastern- Europe feel - again, the soundscape is unimaginably dense but the overriding emotion breaks though and lifts the heart.
At the Barbican the two despaired of the fact that their children would only be interested in going off and playing football while the old men played and practised and ‘”Ma-MA” FC’ was the result, perfectly capturing the childlike behaviours of their offspring and simply delighting this listener with the result either live or on disc.
Special mention should be made of the contribution of Awa Sangho – lead vocal on ‘Regret – A Khader Barrry’. An incredible voice and she produces a highlight all her own in an album of so many.

There is absolutely nothing here that fails to provide the listener with an experience to be savoured – the musicians are virtuosi, their playing is delicate and perfectly complementing of each other and the compositions are examples of two men at the height of their abilities.

This sure ain’t rock & roll but it takes the heart and mind to places that nothing else ever will.