Kora Tickets

Kora
Kora Jazz Trio features a unique fusion of mandinga musical tradition and the freedom of jazz, between West African percussion and Afro-American swing. This unheard of musical fusion, which nonetheless sounded so natural, is widely recognized and embraced.

The current line-up for Kora enlists Djeli Moussa Diawara on vocals and kora, Abdoulaye Diabate on piano, and Moussa Cissoko on drums.

Playing a jazz tinted with traditional sounds and feeling, when Kora Jazz Trios first album came out, critics hailed it as a delightful alchemy, world jazz and a refreshing miracle. Koras second effort turned out to be a new salvo of enthusiastic adjectives from the world music aficionados.

Kora Jazz Trios lead vocalist Djeli Moussa Diawara was born to a family of griots, a traditional caste of African priest-poets musicians. Djelis father was a famous balafon player, his mother was a singer and his half-brother is Mory Kante. Born to a family where arts were appreciated, Djeli has achieved a mastery very rarely attained.

He is an exceptional 32-stringed kora player whose singing skills are as amazing. By bringing new approaches to mandingue music or adapting his instrument to other musical styles Salsa, Flamenco, Blues and now Jazz, he is enjoying a status on two fronts.

Kora Jazz Trios drummer, Moussa Cissoko was also born into a griot family in Senegal. Moussa is characterized distinctly as one of the great masters of West African drumming techniques. Together with his brother, he has recorded an album of percussion and released it through the Cellulo?d label.

Moussas style follows mixing rhythms which together with a feeling have accompanied several major figures of the French and International music scene since the 80s. Some of these are Peter Gabriel, Toure Kunda, Ray Lema and Manu Dibango. Like both his colleagues, Abdoulaye Diabate was born into a family of professional musicians in Senegal.

Koras Abdoulaye is a qualified Senegalese pianist, an aesthete who plays his instrument regardless of borders. He is the most sought-after arranger and composer of his generation among his African peers. Abdoulaye won many first prizes as a classical pianist in the coursze of his studies at the Conservatoire National.

Addicted to fine melodies, Abdoulaye Diabate developed a passion for Jazz and became the leader of the Senegalese National Orchestra. He has worked with an array of stars like Manu Dibango, Mory Kante, Papa Wemba and presently tours as Salif Keitas pianist.

Kora Jazz Trio was instigated a few years ago by producer Gilbert Castro. After having produced several of Diawaras albums, Castro imagined the judicious alliance of the delicacy of Diabates touch on ivory key and the Kora players amazing libertarian swing.

The band brought ten originals and two covers, all written during tours, following the wind along alternative side roads. They won over jazz and World music buffs through the western world. Though enjoyment is Kora Jazz Trios key word; the three musicians make no secret of their desire to introduce jazz to African countries.

In June 2003, the trio came up with an album entitled Kora Jazz Trio Part One. Ripe with teeming ideas, the album sounded as intense on a ghetto blaster in some African suburb as on a hifi in a western metropolis. Kora covered Charlie Parkers Now Is the Time on Part One and redefined Thelonious Monks Rythmning.

The record synthesized trios aspirations and the relevance of this African jazz. The band listed Monk who was deeply influenced by his African heritage on piano. The second tribute on Kora Jazz Trio, Part One, Charles Trenets La Mer caught the defenders of orthodoxy offguard.

Koras two albums, released through concerts all over the world. Both albums gained admiration and earned praise from the jazz connoisseurs. Kora Jazz Trio: Part Two was just a second chapter of the same story which builds an imaginary musical bridge over the Atlantic Ocean, between two continents sharing common melodic and rhythmic roots. It was an effort to fill the void between Western jazz and African jazz.

Through their music, the trio proved that they dont want to make their music pass for missionary ambitions, nor create a musical revolution. Today they are noted to produce a kin of music which simply conveys the joy of freely playing common songs and rhythms, engaging in a generous cultural dialogue.

Kora appeared with their third album Part Three in October, 2008. Their albums are the fruits of intense exchanges in the Paris studios of the Cellulo?d label.

The records also feature a Mandingo heritage with American jazz standards and their respective individualities shine through the whole project.

After many tours and concerts, Djeli Moussa Diawara, Abdoulaye Diabate and Moussa Sissokho have embarked on a traveling adventure with the same sagacity. Having convinced Western jazz and world music lovers, the musicians now desire to bring jazz into African countries.