Sissoko & Sissoko

Back in the day, Djelimady Sissoko and Madou Sissoko were stalwarts of the National Orchestra of Mali. Eventually their sons, Ballaké and Baba respectively, replaced them in the ensemble before Ballaké moved to Paris and Baba settled in Italy. Years later the cousins have now reunited on this splendid album of interlocking kora and ngoni strings recorded in a Belgian chapel. One thinks of Ballaké's elegant duetting with Toumani Diabaté and his semi-classical kora-cello duets with Vincent Segal, but there's quite a different feel here – funkier and more percussive in sound. The opener ‘Sigi Gno Gonya’ is a case in point, as Ballaké strikes up a stately kora melody before Baba's tama (talking drum) pushes the tune into a syncopated desert blues groove. On ‘Djamu Djakoli’ the ngoni begins with a raw and earthy riff, which is then transformed by the lyricism of Ballaké's kora into something more weightless and ethereal. And so it goes on, the pair taking turns to lead – yet by the end, it is unclear who is leading as they push and pull each other into perfect calibration. Magnificent.