Bao's Dream

It was a longstanding dream of kora player Bao Sissoko and violinist Wouter Vandenabeele to bring the album Mousso Lou (2014), which they released together with Mamy Kanouté on the HomeRecords label, live to several Belgian stages.

Bao Sissoko and Wouter Vandenabeele have been working together since 2009, initially on a project with Peulh violinist Issa Sow. The sound colors of the violin and the kora blended so well that Bao and Wouter played a series of concerts as a duo. In 2013, they decided to undertake a project with the griot singer Mamy Kanouté (Dakar, Senegal), who also provides background vocals for Baaba Maal. The CD was recorded in Dakar with many members of the Sissoko and Kanouté families, brilliant musicians who enriched the album with their balafon, kora, guitar, vocals, and more. The string recordings, mixing, and finalization of the album took place in Belgium. The result is a beautiful selection of compositions and traditional pieces by Mamy Kanouté and Baye Diop.

Mamy Kanouté is now sharing several Belgian stages with Bao Sissoko for the first time. This Brussels-based Mandinka griot of Senegalese descent is known for his refined and virtuosic kora playing. Together with the excellent musicians of Kanouté's band and the Belgian violinists Wouter Vandenabeele, Lotte Remmen, and Anouk Sanczuk, they present work from the album Mousso Lou, in which traditional griot music is blended with daring string arrangements.

Mamy Kanouté - vocals
Bao Sissoko - kora
Awa Cissokho - choir
Mbemba Kanouté - kora
Oumar Sall - guitar
Ibrahima Ndir - calabash
Pape Abdoulaye Dieng - drums
Dialikeba Sissoko - keyboards
Makh Koudia Keita - bass guitar
Wouter Vandenabeele - violin
Lotte Remmen - violin
Anouk Sanczuk - violin