Artist: Baba Sissoko with Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Madou Sidiki Diabate & Lansiné Kouyaté
Album: Griot Jazz
Genre: Ethnic Jazz
Label: Caligola
Released: 2021
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
- Sini Ka Dja (03:46)
- Griot Jazz (03:12)
- Dala Manka (03:24)
- Angafoli (03:41)
- Abderrahmane (02:45)
- Griot Groove (03:49)
- Fatoumata(03:22)
- Gherena (03:32)
- Kamissoko (02:31)
- Uyaye (02:49)
- Thierno (03:38)
- Mamela (03:54)
- Dorcy (02:45)
- Nour (03:34)
- Castella (02:52)
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- Personnel:
- Baba Sissoko (ngoni, tama, vocals)
- Jean–Philippe Rykiel (piano, keyboards)
- Madou Sidiki Diabate (kora)
- Lansiné Kouyaté (balafon)
The «Griot Jazz» project was born during the residency for the production of the opera «Le Vol du Boli» at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where three Malian musicians were involved, Baba Sissoko and Lansiné Kouyaté, already popular in Europe (the former lives in Italy, the latter in France) and the younger Madou Sidiki Diabate, who still dwells in Mali. The three of them always played together, every day, before rehearsing as well as during the intermissions, and a month later Sissoko had written material enough to feel the need to record it before everyone went back home. Lansiné, who lives in Paris, booked the studio of a friend musician, Jean–Philippe Rykiel, a French keyboardist blind since his birth in 1961 who, listening to them rehearse, felt the desire to sit at the piano and play with them. His keyboard blended perfectly well with the trio’s music, so much so that he was asked to join the group. The great freedom at interpreting African music, Rykiel’s creative keyboard as well as the wide space left for improvisation link Mali’s music with jazz, and it’s not by chance that the title track, Griot Jazz, is perhaps the best example of that fusion. Even though it was born by chance, the project doesn’t sound that casual. Rykiel, a pianist but also an arranger and producer, collaborated with Jon Hassell and Leonard Cohen but most of all with Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour, with whom he co–produced three albums. Besides, he also recorded as a duo with Kouyaté, who in turn played with Keita and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Such experiences are analogous to the ones lived by Baba Sissoko, who has always been drawn to jazz, ever since his first experiences with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Of all his previous works, this one seems the best and most balanced. The fifteen tracks flow smoothly, with no hitches, and the traditional African instruments look for new and original sounds, managing to find them with Rykiel’s keyboard.