Kimmo Pohjonen has always been very interesting. I personally know the other guy from that album, Samuli Kosminen. Does he play the electric drum kit on that album? Have to listen to that one.

there is an electric drum kit on the album, yes. I am not sure who plays it though, but it seems likely now that you say it. 

Toumani Diabate with Ballake Sissoko - New Ancient Strings (1999 Rykodisc/Hannibal)



This album is interesting for various reasons: It's a historical recording which is also the answer to a previous historic recording; it's musically a milestone; and it's a great and rare location recording.

The two Kora maestros featured are the two foremost virtuosi of the Kora, the 21 string Malian harp-lute, unique to the Mande people of Mali. It is not only the instrument of the Malian Griots, but also one of the most complex and rich instruments of the African continent.

Both Toumani and Ballake are sons to the previous generations greatest Kora players, Sidiki Diabate and Jelimadi Sissoko, both from Bamako and players of the legendary Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali. Sidiki and Jelimadi recorded "Cordes Anciennes" (Ancient Strings) in 1970, which then became the very first Kora duo album recorded, and the experience is here repeated by their sons, Toumani and Ballake, in 1997, with the recording of "New Ancient Strings"


Toumani Diabate

Toumani & Ballake's album features some of the traditional repertoire popularized and recorded by their fathers in 1970, yet with new arrangements and with different emphasis. Some of the pieces are part of the great musical heritage of the Mali empire, which ruled West Africa in the 13th century, and just as their predecessors, the album is certainly a piece of Mali's national identity and musical heritage.


Ballake Sissoko

For the description of the recording session, I will simply retype the great liner notes by Nick Parker, the sound engineer working with producer Lucy Duran, one of the most valuable ethnomusicologists when it comes to West African music:

"New Ancient Strings was recorded on September 22nd, 1997 (Mali's Independence Day) in Bamako, in the marble rooms of the newly built Palais de Congres, on state of the art 20-bit digital equipment by the original team who recorded Kaira (engineer Nick Parker, producer Lucy Duran [Toumani Diabate's first solo album, and the very first Kora solo album ever released]). It was recorded in a single night, straight through - without rehearsal or retakes, in a natural acoustic, and has been mastered without any artificial reverberation. What you hear is what they play. No added effects, no other instruments or vocals, just flowing, virtuoso Kora at its finest, most brilliant, and lyrical.

The disc was recorded in a natural acoustic using omnidirectional microphones feeding high-resolution recorders.

This statement might not sound very remarkable in itself, but location recordings in West Africa present some interesting challenges of their own. I was always keen to record these extraordinary instruments in a real acoustic if at all possible, avoiding the use of boxed artificial reverberation. However, there are almost no buildings in Mali which have anything we would normally describe as "an acoustic". Wall and floor finishes are mostly porous and create a dry and unyielding sound. Those buildings which did offer any benign reflective surfaces were situated in built-upareas and therefore suffered from constant traffic or other environmental noise.

After days of venue prospecting we managed to negotiate the night-time use of a marble vestibule between two acoustically-dead meeting rooms in the Palais de Congres, the recently constructed Sino-French built conference centre in Bamako. In this hermeti c space, the traffic noise was only barely perceptible. Apart from a large cicaka-like creature hiding somewhere in the building, we were completely undisturbed for the whole session. This is rare enough even in conventional European location recording sessions, but all the more extraordinary when you take into account how very quiet these instruments sound in reality."

The quality of the recording is really epic. There is no hiss whatsoever, and the little anecdotic cikada-like creature hidden somewhere in the Palais de Congres, is the only distantly discernible extra. Both Koras sound fabulous, all frequencies are spectacularly well captured, and even with my Q701s and HD800s (and Violectric V100), the bass is bodily present and musically engaging. There's a fabulous sense of space and an intimate yet open soundstage.

The recording is testimony to the heights the Kora can reach in the hands of it's foremost virtuosi, it's a dazzling display of improvisation and of rare lyrical beauty. Give it try!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08B5jFlnGbg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-o714qK_rw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05BLnB66yNc

Quote from: entreoreilles on September 14, 2012, 04:19:06 PM

Great album! Just ordered a copy of both volumes.

Thanks for sharing

Here's a little something in return for introducing me to Stetson's recordings: A recent concert in France; 55 minutes of awesome HD footage and a mindblowing performance, ENJOY!:

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Colin_Stetson_Jazz_a_la_Villette/

Mind blown. Best sax I've ever heard.

Quote from: RudeWolf on October 24, 2012, 08:32:31 PM

Quote from: entreoreilles on October 24, 2012, 07:21:04 PM

Quote from: entreoreilles on September 14, 2012, 04:19:06 PM

Great album! Just ordered a copy of both volumes.

Thanks for sharing

Here's a little something in return for introducing me to Stetson's recordings: A recent concert in France; 55 minutes of awesome HD footage and a mindblowing performance, ENJOY!:

http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Colin_Stetson_Jazz_a_la_Villette/

Mind blown. Best sax I've ever heard.

It asks me for a password when I open the link 

Wow, that's weird. I tried the link myself, and I get the same authentication request. There appears to be some sort of problem with linking to the concerts on ARTE TV's website, so just google "live arte web", and you'll find your way from there. ARTE TV is a German/French TV channel that broadcasts tons of great music in HD, just like MEZZO TV, and their website ARTElive TV allows you to see the concerts broadcasted 30-90 days after they've aired, so there should definitively be no restrictions. Click on the Jazz & Blues section above the movie window, and it will take you to the latest performances, where you will find Stetson's performance. You'll certainly discover a wealth of other great concerts to just sit back and enjoy.

Cheers!

P.S. I just discovered arte live web also has an app on FB, designed to watch the concerts in livestream or in replay.

This is an album I keep returning to every now and then.

The story behind it is long. I used to work with designing refurbishments of public transportation (trains/buses etc..). Anyway. We were quite few at this firm. The only one remotely my age was about 36 at that time. Anyway, he introduced me to an artist that he works as a part-time-manager and tour booker for. This artist was unheard for me until then. Tony Carey. The ex-keyboardist of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. This multi-instrumentalist/producer is quite stunning. (He has done some work for David Knopfler also... Check out the Songs For The Siren-album)

He has released about 15-20 solo records under "Tony Carey" and during the 80's he had an alternative (secret project due to legal/contract) thing as Planet P Project. He had some MTV-videos with Planet P Project, so it wasn't completely unknown.

However... The cream of the crop is without a doubt his second concept album "Pink World", telling the story of a autistic boy that wanders in to a toxic pond and can forsee the future and slowly builds up a cult. In short. The story is fantastic. Almost a bit like Orwell's Animal Farm. Telling a very deep story through this fictional analogy. Anyway... Enough ranting. If you guys can find the original master recordings you're in for a sonic treat. Very-very fantastic recording. Really using all types of instruments in the whole soundstage. It's a treat.