Ballake Sissoko
Ballaké Sissoko (born 1968) is a Malian player of the kora. He has worked with Toumani Diabaté and Taj Mahal, and is a member of the group 3MA with Driss El Maloumi and Rajery.
Ballaké's father, Djelimady Sissoko, was a notable musician from the Gambia in his own right who moved to Mali and was funded by the government to be part of the national orchestra. Sissoko started playing music at a young age, as most born into the jeli or griot caste do. In 1981, when he was 13, Sissoko's father died, and he took his father's place within the Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali. He also performed with several prominent female singers before coming to fame through his duet with Toumani Diabaté in 1999. In 2000, he formed the trio Mande Tabolo with an n'goni player and a balafon player.
His 2005 album, Tomora, features Toumani Diabaté on kora, singers Alboulkadri Barry and Rokia Traoré and Fanga Diawara, violin soloist of the Mali National Instrumental Ensemble.
His record Chamber Music released in October 2009 was the result of a collaboration with Vincent Ségal, a classical cellist known for his work with Bumcello, and was released by French label No Format! and the U.S. label Six Degrees Records.
He released a solo album, At Peace, in 2013. Ségal produced the album and plays on several tracks.
As of 2024, since 2022 Sissoko has been collaborating in duo concerts with Derek Gripper of South Africa, who has transcribed a lot of kora music to play on his own classical guitar, with an album to be released circa April 2024.
Discography
1998 - Kora Music from Mali – Kora Solo Album (bibiafrica records)
1999 - New Ancient Strings (with Toumani Diabaté) (Hannibal-Ryko / Harmonia Mundi)
2000 - Déli (Label Bleu/Indigo)
2003 - Diario Mali (with Ludovico Einaudi) (Label Ponderosa)
2005 - Tomora (Label Bleu/Indigo)
2008 - 3MA (with Driss El Maloumi, Rajery) (Contre-Jour)
2009 - Chamber Music (with Vincent Segal) (No Format!/Six Degrees)
2011 - Humbling Tides (with Stranded Horse) (Talitres Records / No Format!)
2013 - At Peace (No Format!)
2017 - Anarouz (with Driss El Maloumi, Rajery) (Mad Minute Music)
2015 - Musique de Nuit (with Vincent Segal) (No Format!)
2019 - Sissoko & Sissoko (with Baba Sissoko) (homerecords)
2021 - Nocturne (with David Walters, Vincent Segal, Roger Raspail) (Heavenly Sweetness)
2021 - Djourou (No Format!)
2021 - A Touma (No Format!)
2023 - Les Égarés (with Vincent Segal, Emile Parisien, Vincent Peirani) (ACT, No Format!)
2024 - Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper (Platoon)
2024 - Ballaké Sissoko & Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch (Ornithology)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballaké_Sissoko
Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch
Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch is a composer and sound artist. His interests goes from pure electronics to compositions for theater and dance, from soundtracks for images to interactive installations. In his compositions his interest is always focused on the idea of establishing new connections between elements that are otherwise distant : with projects outside Western aesthetics, such as those with Ballaké Sissoko or Amir Elsaffar, or with sound installations based on the inherent exoticism of environmental recordings, such as those for the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, or with compositions for contemporary dance for choreographers such as Michele di Stefano, Richard Siegal, Stijn Celis, or directors such as Adolphe Binder, which immerse the audience in a new soundscape through sound, but also through movement and, above all, space. In this sense, a large part of his work is devoted to 3D sound, multichannel and holophonic composition. He has received commissions from various institutions: Ircam-Center Pompidou, Musical Research Group (GRM), Venice Biennale, Gothenburg Opera, Musée du Quai Branly, Saarbrucken Opera, Ballet National de Marseille, RhurTriennale, Royaumont Foundation, Face Foundation, and many others … and has performed all over the world.
He graduated in architecture (Italy) and composition (France) he moved to Paris. He founded the Label Ornithology Productions in 2022. He’s associated artist at Ircam – Centre Pompidou from 2019 – 2023. He is professor of Electroacoustic Composition at the Conservatory of Montbeliard, France.
https://lorenzobianchihoesch.com/about/
