Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita first got my attention in his collaborations with Katrin Finch, the Welsh harpist. Since then I have become a fan and recently saw him in an amazing concert with Omar Sosa at Kuumbwa Jazz in Santa Cruz). Now Bendigedig, based in Wales, UK, has put out another scintillating collaboration. Antonio Forcione (Italy) on guitar, Seckou Keita (Senegal) on kora, and Adriano Adewale (Brazil) on percussion team up to jam, compose and record. This is the beautiful product: musical balm for the soul.

NO FCC's; Favorite tracks: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9


1—Joy –4:38-- collaboration among the three musicians; treble kora lays out melody to start; other strings come in; quietly pretty

*2—Kanou –4:20 -song by Seckou about all the women he has loved; kora and Mandinka vocals lead with a gentle call and response format

*3—Baracoa –4:38-- written by Antonio named for a small town in Eastern Cuba; nice island rhythm

4—Midnight Blooming –4:51-- written by Adriano about the relief of ending a bad relationship and blooming of new possibilities; punctuated by brilliant harmonics and some vocalization

*5—Il Bambino e L'Aquilone –4:15 – “the boy and the kite” in Italian; light and carefree arpeggios and chords with nice percussion

*6—Saudade –4:22-- by Adriano, a sweet saudade expressing “the onging when something you love is lost”-- with voice, steady guitar, percussion, and kora

7—Empathy –4:12-- hop, skip and a jump beat with a little bit of voice

*8—Uncle Solo –4:03-- dedicated to Jali Solo Cissokho, the great kora player and Seckou's uncle-- pretty kora mixed with vocal harmony

*9 –The Beautiful Game –4:00-- ode to world football (soccer)-- gorgeous kora playing with pointillist percussion

10—Choix de Joie—3:43-- written by Seckou Keita to help him find his own place of joy