TRIO DA KALI & KRONOS QUARTET (EN)

You take a trio of the finest traditional griot musicians from Mali and put them in a studio with western music’s most revolutionary string quartet – and the resulting album is one of the most richly rewarding musical collaborations you are likely to encounter. Together the Kronos Quartet and Trio Da Kali have created an album that is rich in texture, hauntingly melodic and strikingly inventive as violins, viola and cello combine with balafon, ngoni and the powerful female voice of Hawa ‘Kassé Mady’ Diabaté in transcendental style. David Harrington, who founded the Kronos Quartet in 1973, describes the album as “one of the most beautiful Kronos has done in forty years.”

All three Trio Da Kali members come from hereditary musical families. Balafon player and musical director Lassana Diabaté was a long-time member of Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra and has recorded with Salif Keita, Taj Mahal and many others. A musician of great subtlety and invention he has honed a virtuoso two-balafon technique to perfection. Bass ngoni player Mamadou Kouyaté is the eldest son of the instrument’s greatest exponent, Bassekou Kouyaté and he holds down the groove in his father’s band ‘Ngoni Ba’. Singer Hawa ‘Kassé Mady’ Diabaté is the daughter of Mali’s greatest traditional singer, Kassé Mady Diabaté, and the power, range and phrasing of her voice led David Harrington to compare her to the late queen of American gospel, Mahalia Jackson.

The Kronos Quartet – James Harrington and John Sherba on violins, Hank Dutt on viola, and cellist Sunny Yang – have built an enviable reputation as the world’s most adventurous string quartet. Known for their commitment to continually re-imagining the string quartet experience Kronos have released over 50 records of extraordinary breadth and creativity and they are no strangers to collaborations with some of the world’s foremost composers and artists. Combining the spirit of fearless exploration with expert craftsmanship and skill, Trio Da Kali’s original repertoire has been taken on a fascinating journey, giving a new voice to timeless sounds.