Mali in Oak

In 2015 kora and cello player Tunde Jegede and South African guitarist Derek Gripper played a candlelit concert as a duet at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London as part of a series of performances curated by the classical guitarist John Williams. Gripper’s remarkable transpositions of 21-string kora music for the six-string guitar have been much praised in Songlines. It was the only concert in the series in which Williams did not join the performers on stage. Feeling that even his virtuosity had nothing to add to their stringed magic, Williams sat in the audience and marvelled.

This collaboration features repertoire from both musicians. Their duets are as elegant and graceful as you would expect, but the most extraordinary thing is that it’s almost impossible to tell which notes are coming from which instrument. Jegede’s cello on ‘Songs of the Eternal’ adds a different texture and their one joint composition, ‘Where Rivers Meet’, leaves the listener hoping their collaboration will flower further. It comes beautifully packaged with a 40-page booklet of informative notes and photos that enhances the feel of a very ‘special’ musical communion in a way that a soulless digital download never can.