Sabaru

"[Sekou] is credited as the first person to develop an electric kora and both that and the acoustic version appear on this album. Sekou has travelled and lived in the West and absorbed much that broadens his musical horizons. Inevitably his stunning technique on the electric kora have brought simplistic comparisons with Jimi Hendrix but it would be easy to argue that Sekou's approach is less flashy and more disciplined. He plays with a number of other musicians, mainly kora players and a range of percussionists. Their surnames tell us that they are mainly from jali families. The final track, "Mobeny", seems to make a statement. He seems to be saying, "OK, I have demonstrated a range of ways that the kora can be fitted into a modern context. Now I am going to demonstrate that I can play a traditional Manding jali kora solo as well as anybody" - and that is just what he proceeds to do".