Seckou Keita, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Mark Heron – African Rhapsodies (A Work for Kora & Symphonic Orchestra) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:17 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Claves Records
Nottingham based Senegalese composer and kora player Seckou Keita is proud to present African Rhapsodies: an epic project created in collaboration with Italian composer and musician Davide Mantovani, due to be released via Swiss label Claves Records on 26th May 2023. African Rhapsodies is a magnificent, kora-led work, enhanced by the power of The BBC Concert Orchestra.
Seckou’s enchanting work for kora and orchestra celebrates Africa’s magical 22-stringed harp and gives it the position of prominence granted for centuries to the violin, piano and flute. It makes us wonder if Bach or Beethoven might have composed for kora had they traveled to Africa in their lifetime. Seckou builds on that notion by way of his own imagination, which is greatly sparked by his lengthy fascination with crossing cultural borders. The result is a majestic work showcasing a whirlwind of virtuosity, but above all a sublime poetic journey where music is pure emotion.
Read more
Catrin Finch, Seckou Keita – SOAR (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 44:51 minutes | 484 MB | Genre: Africa
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © bendigedig
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita release their much-anticipated second album SOAR on 27th April 2018 on the bendigedig label, followed by major UK tours throughout 2018.
Read more
Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita – Transparent Water (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:30 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © world village
Transparent Water is the new studio collaboration between 7-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist-composer-bandleader Omar Sosa and London-based Senegalese singer and kora master Seckou Keita. The project idea grew out of Sosa’s impromptu addition to a mid–2012 date with drummer Marque Gilmore at the CLF Art Café in London, in what was Sosa and Keita’s first musical encounter. Profoundly moved by the experience, Omar told Seckou he wanted to invite him to work together on a future recording project.
Read more
Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita – Suba (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 48:00 minutes | 904 MB | Genre: World, Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © bendigedig
Though they share an ancestral connection to Africa, the respective birthplaces of piano virtuoso Omar Sosa and kora Maestro Seckou Keita, Cuba and Senegal, are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. When the pair met in 2012, Seckou admired Omar for his musical spirituality, whilst Omar saw in Seckou a rare ability to collaborate while retaining his musical identity. Their debut album, Transparent Water, was released to acclaim in 2017. Recorded during lockdown, the pair’s second album, SUBA, is a hymn to hope, to a new dawn of compassion and real change in a post-pandemic world. Joining Omar and Seckou in the studio, and for live performances, is the inimitable Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles.
Read more
Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita – Echo (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:55 minutes | 940 MB | Genre: World, Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © bendigedig
Echo celebrates the tenth anniversary of an extraordinary partnership between two virtuosos whose previous releases include 2018’s album Soar and their 2013 debut Clychau Dibon. Echo marks the third part of this remarkable trilogy. The harp and kora share centuries of history, and Catrin and Seckou create a unique dialogue in a musical alliance of rare empathy, inspired by differences and similarities. Their atmospheric magic crosses genre boundaries, from folk and world music to classical and contemporary as their fingers flow like opposing tributaries into a single river of sound. Echo is the tender triumph of an extraordinary musical partnership that combines harp and kora, the modern and traditional, different cultures and common humanity.
Read more