Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba have long had a dream of traveling to Senegal to record an album. This year they made it happen. The band just returned from M’bour, Cissokho’s hometown and the city where his family still maintains a large compound open to musical relatives and friends.
Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba recorded in collaboration with Senegalese griots and other musicians. They blend the sounds and instruments of the American south with the traditional ones of West Africa. Host Frank Stasio talks with Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba about their new recordings and the process of working on both sides of the Atlantic. The group also performs songs from their latest endeavor live in studio.
The band opens for Grammy award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo on Sept. 23 at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh at 6:45 p.m. They also perform on Oct.5 on the Meadow Stage at the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dancein Pittsboro; and Oct.14 atLeBauer Park in Greensboro at 8 p.m.