Ballaké Sissoko (born 1968) is a

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

an player of the kora. He has worked with

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. I ...

and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

, and is a member of the group 3MA with Driss El Maloumi and Rajery.

Biography

Ballaké's father, Djelimady Sissoko, was a notable musician from the Gambia in his own right who moved to Mali and was funded by the government to be part of the national orchestra. Sissoko started playing music at a young age, as most born into the ''jeli'' or

griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

caste do. In 1981, when he was 13, Sissoko's father died, and he took his father's place within the Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali. He also performed with several prominent female singers before coming to fame through his duet with

in 1999. In 2000, he formed the trio Mande Tabolo with an n'goni player and a balafon player. His 2005 album, ''Tomora'', features

on kora, singers Alboulkadri Barry and

Rokia Traoré Rokia Traoré (born 24. January 1974) is a Malian-born singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. ''Bowmboï'' (2003) won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004 and ''Tchama ...

and Fanga Diawara, violin soloist of the Mali National Instrumental Ensemble. His record ''

Chamber Music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

'' released in October 2009 was the result of a collaboration with

Vincent Ségal Vincent Ségal (born 1967 in Reims, France) is a French cellist and bassist. He studied at the National Music Academy of Lyon and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. He is mainly known for the variety of his collaborations and unusual projec ...

, a classical cellist known for his work with Bumcello, and was released by French label

No Format! No Format! is an independent record label based in Paris founded in 2004 by Laurent Bizot, joined in 2007 by Thibaut Mullings. The label seeks to invest in original musical projects, be them instrumental or vocal, and has built up a catalogue ...

and the U.S. label

Six Degrees Records Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. History In 1996, former Windham Hill employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the in ...

. He released a solo album, ''At Peace'', in 2013. Ségal produced the album and plays on several tracks.

The Broken Kora affair

On returning from a 2020 US tour, Sissoko checked in his €5000 custom-made kora at the airport in New York for the flight back to Paris. On his arrival he discovered that the instrument had been dismantled by

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

agency. According to Sissoko's manager, Corinne Serres, "Even if all the components that had been dismantled remained intact, it would take weeks for a kora of this calibre to return to its former state of resonance.". The customs agency, however, denied opening the kora case which should not have triggered an alarm in the security scanners. Guardian article on the dismantled kora
/ref> Sissoko's 2021 album ''Djourou'', also released by No Format, takes its name from these events.

Discography

* 1998 - ''Kora Music from Mali'' KOra-Solo Album (bibiafrica records) * 1999 - ''

New Ancient Strings ''New Ancient Strings'' () is a studio album by the Malian musicians Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko, released on 22 June 1999 by the British label Hannibal Records. The album comprises eight instrumental duets composed by Diabaté for k ...

'' with Toumani Diabaté (Hannibal-Ryko) * 2000 - ''Déli'' (Label Bleu/Indigo) * 2003 - '' Diario Mali'' (Label Ponderosa) with

Ludovico Einaudi Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi OMRI (; born 23 November 1955) is an Italian pianist and composer. Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as ...

* 2005 - ''Tomora'' (Label Bleu/Indigo) * 2009 - ''

'' (No Format!/Six Degrees) with Vincent Segal * 2011 - ''Humbling Tides'' (Talitres Records / No Format!) with

Stranded Horse Stranded may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Stranded'' (album), a 1973 album by Roxy Music * ''Stranded'', a 1990 album by Tangier * ''Stranded'', a 1992 EP by Konkhra * ''(I'm) Stranded'', a 1977 album by Australian rock group The Saints ...

* 2013 - ''At Peace'' * 2015 - ''Musique de Nuit'' (Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal album) * 2021 - ''Djourou'' * 2021 - ''A Touma''

References

External links

Calabash Music Profile
*http://www.noformat.net/BALLAKE+SISSOKO+%26AMP;+VINCENT+SEGAL-CHAMBER+MUSIC-medias.html Malian musicians 1968 births Living people Label Bleu artists Six Degrees Records artists Harmonia Mundi artists 21st-century Malian people {{Africa-musician-stub