BALLAKE SISSOKO & VINCENT SEGAL - Chamber Music (No Format)

A new configuration for the kora, and it’s a remarkably snug musical fit that is as intriguingly intertwined as Scandi-Senegalese duo Ellika and Solo’s meeting of kora and violin, and as stately a piece of work as Ballaké Sissoko’s cousin Toumani Diabaté’s ventures into classical kora crossover.

The Malian’s former Label Bleu label-mate, Frenchman Vincent Ségal, brings his classical cello background and work with trip-hop experimentalists Bumcello to an album that was recorded, apparently in de rigueur straight-no-overdubs takes (oh, how they must have rehearsed!), in Salif Keita’s studio in Bamako (Ségal also crops up on the latest Salif Keita album, La Difference).

And as the title suggests, Chamber Music possesses a small-scale formality and refined air, although the improvisational characteristics of Sissoko’s instrument aren’t completely discarded. Instead his crystal-clear melodies work their way around and through Ségal’s vivid, often melancholy, tones, never venturing too far from their resonant anchor, and often in unison with the Frenchman’s instrument whilst always just pushing the extemporisation envelope enough to hold the attention.

There’s little of the intensity we heard on Sissoko’s 2005 album Tomora. These feathery melodies build slowly, floating just within reach of the listener whilst Ségal…well, what drama and variety he brings to his instrument, at times light-touch and violin-like, at others grabbing the spotlight with rumbling, trembling rhythms, and at others offering the merest velvety murmur whilst Ballaké teases out repeated melodic motifs.

Fans of Anouar Brahem will relish the way Histoire de Molly (one of three Ségal compositions) constructs a simple, nagging melody which is revisited and developed at the end of each short improvised wander – an impressive restrained use of space and obvious musical empathy displayed here - and another highlight is Future, which opens with what sounds like the growl of a Mongolian throat singer (Vincent’s cello has a disconcertingly human timbre at times) then fades into a study in pinpoint mellifluous minimalism.

Additional elements such as bolon, balafon, karignan scraper and guest singer Awa Sangho complete the picture of an exemplary album that arguably confirms Ballaké Sissoko as the pre-eminent practitioner of his craft, completing as it does a trio of truly masterful releases by the Malian following Tomora and the 3MA collaboration of 2008. As equal partner on Chamber Music, Vincent Ségal must take his share of the plaudits for that.

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RAJERY, BALLAKE SISSOKO, DRISS EL MALOUMI - 3MA (Madagascar, Mali, Maroc) (Contre-Jour)

Let's get the dreaded 'f' word out of the way before we start – yes, this is a fusion of sounds from disparate parts of western, northern and south-eastern Africa, but the pieces on this sumptuously produced album have been carefully honed to produce a coalition rather than a clash of styles (it would have been quite something to witness the early improvisational sessions and concerts that led to these sympathetically structured arrangements).
Comparisons have been made in the past between the valiha – the tubular bamboo zither of Madagascar - and the kora, and the two instruments dovetail well here. Malian kora maestro Ballaké Sissoko largely restrains from embarking on rippling, improvisational runs, giving space to Rajery's bright, chiming phrasing on the valiha. The result is a flowing, delicately-spiced tunefulness, which by definition compromises the individuality of these two great musicians but in favour of an unforced, intuitive union between the two. Two instruments become one in the most satisfactory way, but left to their own devices they might well have lacked a weighty, deeper tone, which is where the striking oud work of Morocco's Driss El Maloumi comes in.
There's a strong virtuoso feel to his playing as he drives out a dry, fretted bass groove whilst picking out notes that flit around the melodic base provided by Rajery and Sissoko. The result is a pleasing variety of approaches - slow, reflective numbers are mixed with ringing mid-tempo tunes; subtle Arabic flavours, Manding rhythms and summery Indian Ocean melodies are given an airing; and each musician embarks on constrained, well-timed solos. They all get an occasional opportunity to stretch their vocal chords as well (Rajery's soulful falsetto is always a welcome sound), and each takes a solo piece too, which teasingly serve to underline the excellence of the individual elements deployed on this exquisitely put-together album. Three master musicians, one masterful collection of beautifully rendered harmonic interplay.

Contre Jour