Seckou Keita - 22 Strings - 2015

 

After his sublime album Clychau Dibon, with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch (who won the "Cross-Cultural Collaboration" award at the 2014 Songlines Music Awards), Seckou Keita presents his new solo album: 22 Strings (2015), the of his ancestral instrument, the kora, meditation grace and consummate elegance.

The title 22 Strings refers to a story about the kora, which has 21 strings. According to an old legend, when the spirits (djinns) of the African jungle gave the first kora to the griot Jali Mady "Wuleng", it had 22 strings. When Jali Mady died, his fellow griots took a rope in memory of him. In its birthplace in southern Senegal and Guinea Bissau, the 22-string kora has survived, giving special advantages in terms of tonal range. For Seckou Keita, this additional rope represents home, the place where his heart resides.

Seckou shows us the kora in its purity, a wonderful instrument that can take the human spirit to a place of deep meditation, stillness and beauty. As a sample button, the album's closing theme ("Future Strings in E", also featured on Clychau Dibon), an impressive showcase of Seckou's inventiveness on these twenty-two strings. 

01. The Path From Gabou

02. N' Doké (Little Bro)

03. Mikhi Nathan Mu-Toma (The Invisible Man)

04. If Only I Knew

05. Alpha Yaya

06. Kana-Sila

07. Tatono

08. Mandé

09. Abdou N' Diaye

10. Future Strings in E