m Fatoumata Diawara Ama Kora

GRAMMY-winner Dobet Gnahoré is one of Africa's hottest and most beloved talents. With her amazing voice, incredible dance moves, powerful presence, and colorful style sense, Dobet Gnahoré appeals to fans of Angelique Kidjo, Yemi Alade, Fatoumata Diawara and other divas of African music. Dobet’s electrifying new album Couleur was recorded in Africa during the pandemic, and celebrates local talent, women’s rights, creativity and positivity in spite of challenging times.

Equal Spirits brings together a genre-defying mix of South African spiritual jazz, ambient improvised introspection, bursts of old-school hip-hop and electronica, soaring melodies, synths, samples and gospel-infused grooves, woven together with sung and spoken languages from Zulu, Sotho, Yoruba and Xhosa to Arabic and English.

Nottingham-based Senegalese composer and kora player Seckou Keita is proud to present African Rhapsodies: an epic project created in collaboration with Italian composer and musician Davide Mantovani, released via Swiss label Claves Records. African Rhapsodies is an enchanting, kora-led work, enhanced by the power of the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The World Kora Trio is American cellist Eric Longsworth, kora player Cherif Soumano from Mali, and French percussionist David Mirandon. Their music is the encounter of cultures from three continents, “World music” in the truest sense. The colors of African music embodied by the kora resonate with the jazz and folk universe of the electric cello, and the varied percussions add spice and rhythmic vitality. The compositions are original, brought alive by constant improvisation and interaction, and the pleasure these three musicians have to be on stage together is palpable. Jazz, folk, rock, Maghreb flavours and blues come together with African tradition to create music without borders. Based in France, the World Kora Trio has toured in Canada, Mexico and Europe, and has played notably in Mali, Moldavia, Corsica, and Poland.

Kora player, singer and songwriter Zal Sissokho was born in Senegal and arrived in Montreal in 1999. His new album, Kora Flamenca, is the fruit of a musical project that he has nurtured over a long period of time. The idea was born during a trip to Seville, when Zal first became interested in the sounds of flamenco. He was fascinated by the playing techniques of the musicians he met in Andalusia, and became set on creating music that would combine flamenco with the Mandinka culture of his native West Africa. Zal Sissokho has recorded several albums and performed on stage, both as a soloist and with other artists such as Les frères Diouf, Celso Machado, Constantinople, Fakhass Sico, Lilison di Kinara and Richard Séguin.