Sousou & Maher Cissoko

Music

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General Info

Genre: Acoustic / Folk / Roots Music
Location Senegal, Sw
Profile Views: 81340
Last Login: 8/24/2012
Member Since 8/26/2008
Website www.sousoumaher.se
Record Label Ajabu!
Type of Label Indie
Bio
Maher Cissoko and Sousou Cissoko shares a unique musical heritage and destiny which travels through different worlds and musical styles. The combination of the rhythmic energy of the kora, together with intimate vocals makes their music one to remember. There's a logical explanation to the magic of their music - and that is the story of Sousou and Maher. Some years ago two young musicians in different parts of the world each made a decisive choice to let their music evolve in new places. They shifted continents without knowing about each other. Maher Cissoko is born and raised with music in Senegal, and as a member of a big and well known griot family of Casamance in southern Senegal. Maher has embellished the tradition and developed his own danceable style of kora playing. Besides playing the kora, he is also a great percussionist and plays West African percussion such as Calabash, Djembe and Tama (Talking Drum), which you can hear in his rhythmical way of playing the kora. In Europe where Maher was playing in different bands he learned styles and techniques of other musical genres like Latin, reggae and jazz. He was also touring around festivals such as Womad and Glastonbury with his brother Solo Cissokho and the family band Jalikunda Cissokho with Seckou Keita. Like his older brothers Solo and Fily Cissokho (yes they spell their names differently), he's now a full time musician in Europe and a former student of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Sousou Cissoko grew up in the southern parts of Sweden surrounded by music and fell in love with the kora when her father was playing with the griot Alagi Mbye from Gambia in the early 90:ies. Since then the kora has had a defining role in heir life. According to the tradition, the kora has traditionally only been played by men, so before Alagi could teach a woman he had to ask the old kora masters in the countryside why women didn't play kora? Since he didn't get any satisfying answer to that question, Alagi decided to start teaching women and therefore accepted Sousou as his student. Since then she has spent a lot of time in the Gambia and Senegal learning to play the kora, guitar and to sing in Wolof and Mandinka as well as focused on the history of the Mandinka and the Jali culture. It was when Sousou was invited by the BBC Music Award winner Solo Cissokho to spend time with his family in Ziguinchor to learn their style of kora playing that she met Maher. "You just take the taxi to Ziguinchor and ask the driver where I live and you will find my home," Solo said, and that's exactly what Sousou did a few months later. When she arrived in Ziguinchor, Solo was not there but the rest of the family was and among them Maher Cissoko. The story of this young couple is very unique and that is definitely something that shows in their work.
Members
Influences
Family and friends. Solo Cissokho, Toumani Diabate, Kassy Madi Diabate, Seckouba Bambino, Fafadi, Daby Toure, Diogal Sakho, India Arie, Tracy Chapman
Sounds Like
http://youtu.be/WDYB23GOdr0