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<\/p>\nWhen Diali Cissokho moved to North Carolina in 2010, he knew hardly anyone. The Senegalese musician didn\u2019t speak English, and had no one with whom to play music. But with the help of his wife and mother-in-law, he put together a dance band, Kaira Ba. Eight years later, Cissokho has a strong command of the English language, and has just released his third album, Routes<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Soon after Cissokho first settled in Pittsboro, N.C., he says he found himself sad and bored. \u201cI have to play music,\u201d he told his wife. \u201cI cannot move to U.S. and try to find another job; I\u2019m not good at that. That doesn\u2019t make me happy.\u201d His wife Hilary Stewart\u2014a Pittsboro native\u2014was supportive. \u201cShe\u2019s very strong, and she pushed me,\u201d Cissokho recalls. \u201cShe said, \u2018Yes, you\u2019re going to find a band.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In fact it was Stewart who found the musicians who would make up Kaira Ba. \u201cI didn\u2019t build this band,\u201d Cissokho says. \u201cMy wife and her mom, they<\/i> built this band.\u201d Stewart invited a lifelong friend, Berklee-trained guitarist John Westmoreland, to come over. \u201cWe hung out, and started playing\u201d Cissokho says. \u201cMe and John, we started getting along, and that was the beginning of Kaira Ba.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and my wife\u2019s mom, they always tried to find right musicians for me,\u201d Cissokho says. \u201cBecause they know my talent and they know I\u2019m kind of difficult to guide. I don\u2019t want just a musician who will not play with their heart, because the music I\u2019m doing, you have to have a big heart. You have to be positive with music; then I can take you. And they were looking for that kind of person.\u201d<\/p>\n
They soon found the right people. Cissokho sings and plays the kora, a 21-string West African instrument that looks like a cross between a lute, a harp and a banjo. Today Cissokho is backed by Kaira Ba, a group that includes Westmoreland plus three more North Carolina-based musicians: bassist Jonathan Henderson, drummer Austin McCall and percussionist Will Ridenhour.<\/p>\n
Cissokho\u2019s music is steeped in Senegalese traditions; the music he makes with Kaira Ba combines those flavors with Western instrumentation and musical sensibilities. But he admits that it didn\u2019t start out that way. \u201cWhen I started playing with John, he always followed my direction; he always tried to play African style,\u201d Cissokho says. \u201cBut [once] he was comfortable, I said, \u2018John, you know what? Now it\u2019s time for me to join your<\/i> style of music, to move out to be comfortable with a new style.\u2019 So we started sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band released its debut, Resonance<\/i>, in 2012. That recording subtly applies a rock aesthetic to West African griot musical traditions, but the Senegalese flavor of Cissokho\u2019s music isn\u2019t diluted in the process. The Great Peace<\/i> followed in 2014; Routes<\/i> was released June 29 on Twelve Eight Records, a label founded by ethnomusicologist Henderson, who also co-produced the album.<\/p>\n
For Cissokho, the act of making music is deeply ingrained into who he is. \u201cWe don\u2019t just play music,\u201d he says. \u201cWe speak. When we\u2019re on the stage, we speak by our hearts, and the audience understands what we say.\u201d Though his lyrics\u2014showcasing the Senegalese Manding and Wolof cultures\u2014 are indecipherable to most Westerners, somehow the ideas and emotions get through.<\/p>\n
A variety of guest musicians from both Senegal and the U.S. (including North Carolina \u201cchamber soul\u201d vocalist Shana Tucker) lend their talents to the album. A booklet included with Routes<\/i> features liner notes that explain and contextualize each of the album\u2019s 11 songs, and printed English translations express the depth of Cissokho\u2019s lyrics about family, death, friendships, love and Ndoli, a mythical creature in Mandinka folklore.<\/p>\n
The international feel of the album also draws from Malian traditions (the instrumental parts of \u201cStory Song\u201d) and Latin culture (Salsa Xalel\u201d). The latter is \u201cjust something I decided to combine,\u201d Cissokho says with a laugh. \u201cit\u2019s a little<\/i> bit Senegalese.\u201d<\/p>\n
Written in the aftermath of being harassed by drunken concertgoers at the Shakori Hills Festival, \u201cBaayi Leen\u201d is a reminder that \u201cjudging people without knowing their story is wrong,\u201d Cissokho says.<\/p>\n
The musician relates a story that gives him great satisfaction. \u201cWe were in a performance, two or three years ago. When we were done playing, a lady asked me, \u2018Do you realize what kind of music you do? Your music is like a medicine. I was having a bad day, a sad day. And I don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re singing, to be honest. But I feel you, and it\u2019s a medicine for my heart. You have something that\u2019s magic.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of music we do,\u201d Cissokho says. \u201cAt first, people don\u2019t always get it. But one day they\u2019re going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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