Seckou Keita

“Seckou Keita is a brilliant live performer with stacks of charisma, and one of the few champions of the less-known and rhythmically rocking kora repertoire from Casamance in southern Senegal where he is from. His quartet brings a whole new perspective to these powerful songs, teasing out their rich polyphony with subtlety and joy.” Lucy DuranThe Seckou Keita Quartet brings together the best of Afro-Mandinka Soul music. It reflects the many stages of Seckou Keita’s musical journey in an ensemble blending European and African instruments and influences. The Quartet made its debut in 2004 under the title Acoustic Vibes, and in 2005 played the London Jazz Festival and all over the UK as part of the Heatwave tour. They have impressed audiences at Montreal jazz festival and various other festivals in Canada. Their first album "Afro Mandinka Soul..Tama Silo" has just been released.Drawing together musicians from Senegal, Italy, Egypt and The Gambia, the varied approaches within the Seckou Keita Quartet superbly complement one another.Davide Mantovani’s upright bass, Samy Bisha’s violin and Surahata Susso’s congas and calabash percussion weave a truly original ensemble sound around the experimental tunings and virtuoso kora of Keita himself.“They may all be from different places and traditions”, Keita points out, “but our instruments all speak the same language”, and whether playing an upbeat dance tune, or a soulful song, people respond enthusiastically to the remarkable energy that flows between the musicians. The Quartet is itself a journey of musical discovery and audiences are very much invited to join them on the road.For all their achievements over the last two years, Keita sees a lot more shared territory to explore in the future. “Wherever we play, people ask how we thought to bring these different instruments and traditions together”, he says, “but it was never an idea, just something that grew very naturally. The more I play with these musicians, the more I feel we can accomplish together”.