A Celebrated Virtuoso on an Instrument She Wasn t Meant to Play nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ballaké Sissoko: picking up the pieces after US customs broke his kora Dale Berning Sawa
In the Malian language Bamanankan,
djourou – the title of Ballaké Sissoko’s forthcoming album – means string. “It’s the string that connects me to others,” he says. For this master of the kora, it is also the string that broke.
Last February, Sissoko returned to Paris after a US tour with his trio 3MA to find that border officials in New York had dismantled his kora. The neck, bridge, strings and custom-built pickup had been removed from the body, made of calabash and parchment. The instrument was beyond repair, and made headlines around the world.
Ballaké Sissoko: A Beginner s Guide songlines.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from songlines.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.