Rhythm of the Griot

Kora player Diabel Cissokho has long explored the connection between blues and the griot tradition, most notably on the album Mansana Blues (2010), recorded with the blues guitarist Ramon Goose, and the harmonica-heavy Tambacounda Express (2016). Dividing his time between his native Senegal and a home in Cornwall, he's enjoyed a stint in Baaba Maal's band and climbed aboard Damon Albarn's Africa Express. He continues his journey with a hard-hitting griot-rock album on which his dark, gritty voice and electrified kora go straight for the jugular.

Opener ‘On Sait Faire Blues’ rocks to a Zeppelin-like riff. On ‘Koullo’ his kora is channelled through a wah-wah pedal over which a bluesy harmonica wails like a banshee. ‘Badinya’ could be a Youssou N'Dour pop hit with stabs of riffing brass. ‘Blues Rock’ does what it says on the tin with a hint of Ali Farka Touré at his desert-blasted heaviest. ‘Tell Me’ is a spacey instrumental of the kind Pink Floyd might have essayed if David Gilmour had ever mastered the kora. But there are gentler moments, too, most notably on the elegant kora solo ‘Manssaya’ and the spiritual chanting of ‘Barakhama’.