Ballaké 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.

Biography 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. In 2000, he formed the trio Mande Tabolo with a ngoni 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. Cellist Vincent Ségal produced the album and plays on several tracks.

In 2023, Sissoko premiered a Concerto for Kora by the Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka at the Radio France concert hall in Paris.

Since 2022, Sissoko has collaborated in duo concerts with South African guitarist Derek Gripper, who has transcribed kora music for performance on the classical guitar. In 2024, the duo released the album Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper on Matsuli Music.

The broken kora affair On returning from a 2020 US tour, Sissoko checked in his €5000 custom-made kora at the airport in New York for the flight back to Paris. On his arrival he discovered that the instrument had been dismantled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. According to Sissoko's manager, Corinne Serres: "Even if all the components that had been dismantled remained intact, it would take weeks for a kora of this calibre to return to its former state of resonance." The customs agency, however, denied opening the kora case, which should not have triggered an alarm in the security scanners.

Sissoko's 2021 album Djourou, also released by No Format, takes its name from these events.

Discography

1998 - Kora Music from Mali Kora-Solo album (bibiafrica records) 1999 - New Ancient Strings, with Toumani Diabaté (Hannibal-Ryko) 2000 - Déli (Label Bleu/Indigo) 2003 - Diario Mali (Label Ponderosa), with Ludovico Einaudi 2005 - Tomora (Label Bleu/Indigo) 2009 - Chamber Music (No Format!/Six Degrees), with Vincent Segal 2011 - Humbling Tides (Talitres Records / No Format!), with Stranded Horse 2013 - At Peace 2015 - Musique de Nuit, with Vincent Segal 2017 - Anarouz, with Driss al Maloumy (oud) and Rajery (valiha), featuring string instruments from Mali, Morocco, and Madagascar 2019 - Sissoko & Sissoko, with Baba Sissoko on ngonis, tama, and vocals 2021 - Djourou 2021 - A Touma 2023 - Les Égarés, with Vincent Segal (cello), Emile Parisien (saxophone) & Vincent Peirani (accordion) 2024 - Ballaké Sissoko and Derek Gripper 2024 - Bamako*Chicago Sound System, with Nicole Mitchell 2025 - Our Calling, with Piers Faccini