New Ancient Strings / Nouvelles Cordes Anciennes
Toumani Diabaté
- LP
- Label
- Chrysalis
25th Anniversary edition. Newly remastered from the original master tape at AIR Mastering, and pressed on 180g vinyl Includes a four page booklet with photographs and liner notes by Lucy Duran.
A reissue of a 1999 album by two Malian kora masters, New Ancient Strings is a beautiful collection of acoustic kora duets by Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko - whom are both often popularly regarded (among West African critics and beyond) as the best kora players of their generation. Recorded in a single live take within a marble hallway of Bamako's conference centre in 1997, the album is a landmark album in cementing the legacy and history of the instrument, with Diabete and Sissoko mutually inspired by the 1970 album of the same name, which was in turn released by each of their parents, Sidiki Diabate and Djelimadi Sissoko; many changes reflecting the meandering landscape of Malian music were made, not least the inclusion of flamenco flourishes and esoteric architectural recording techniques.