Could you play the kora?

For you music lovers out there, I had the chance to go see a Senegalese musician on Wednesday night. Ablaye Cissoko performed at the Alliance Française, a French school here. He played the kora and sand accompanying songs in French. The music was fantastic! I had never seen a kora musician before, and came away in awe at the musical ability of this young man. The kora itself looks like a half-gourd with a long wooden pole (3 ft. long) extending from the top. On either side of the long wooden pole are two shorter wooden poles (the one on the left is about 6 inches tall and the one on the right is about a foot high) attached to the top of the gourd. Strings run from the tall pole down to the bottom of the gourd. The kora player then plays the instrument two-handed, with each hand holding onto one of the two smaller poles, and then plucking the strings. It sounds sort of like a combination of the acoustic guitar and the harp. Cissoko then sang along with the music, probably in Wolof, but I’m not sure. Seth snuck his recorder into the program and got the entire concert and has promised to make me a cd of it. Go on-line and google kora music if you want to hear some of it. I was amazed how melodic and unique the songs were. Steve, Seth and I all went to the concert, paying 4 cedis each. When was the last time you paid $4.25 for a world-class musician’s concert, and then get third-row seats? Plus, the concert was outside on a gorgeous evening, very relaxing. I wish Sarah had been there to share it with me.