Heritage

Born in London to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, Jegede has a rich musical history. As a child he learned to play the cello and the kora, which he studied in the Gambia with the prestigious Jobarteh family. He went on to play in jazz ensembles and with the African Classical Music Ensemble and has composed string quartets, oratorios and concertos for the London Sinfonia and other concert orchestras. Somewhere in-between he found time to record the 1996 solo kora album Malian Royal Court Music (later reissued as Still Moment). Now he has finally recorded a follow-up, all done in a three-hour session one evening in a church in the French village of Labeaume, where in the course of the same week he also recorded a solo cello album of Bach suites.

Listening to Heritage, the connection becomes obvious. The 14 pieces are strictly classical in structure, full of baroque patterns and contrapuntal progressions, rich harmonic variations and memorable melodies. The pieces are deeply rooted in the traditional Mande repertoire, though are often given new titles such as ‘Kinship’, ‘The Waters’ and ‘The Return’. If the works of Toumani Diabaté are the touchstones by which modern kora recordings are judged, then it's high praise indeed to say that this album can sit proudly alongside The Mande Variations.