Djelimady N°1

Ballaké Sissoko, the Malian kora master, returns with Djelimady N°1, an album centered on his own musical tradition and dedicated to his father. Djelimady Sissoko was an eminent kora player and one of the founding members of the National Instrumental Ensemble of Mali. 

His importance within this orchestra earned him the nickname "Djelimady N°1."
Ballaké lost his father at the age of 13. Having inherited his virtuosity, ability to adapt to different styles, his melodic lyricism, and his knowledge of the Mande repertoire, he was invited to take his father’s place in the national ensemble, becoming its youngest member.

With this new album, Ballaké celebrates his father's rich musical legacy. It is a creative returning to and recovering of some of the older, now mostly forgotten pieces of the kora, and its buried ways and sounds of playing, but always reinterpreted through a contemporary approach.

For this new album, he founded Mande Tabolo, which translates to "“taking hold of the Mande heritage”"; a sextet inspired by the legendary National Instrumental Ensemble of Mali that brings together three koras, a soku, and a ngoni.

On the album, the stellar musicians will be joined by gifted vocalist Fatim Kouyaté, and the guest voice of Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Piers Faccini, with whom Ballaké has worked extensively, in tribute to the late great Malian singer Kassemady Diabaté.

Recorded in Angoulême, France, the album was produced by producer and musicologist Lucy Durán (New Ancient Strings, Toumani & Sidiki), alongside multi Grammy-awarded studio engineer Jerry Boys (Buena Vista Social Club, Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder: Talkin’ Timbuktu). The album Djelimady N°1 celebrates the creative genius of one of the greatest kora players at the peak of his art.