Seckou Keita is a true master of the traditional bridge harp with a calabash body. Known as "the Hendrix of the Kora", he composes pieces for Kora and orchestra, with which he performs on stage in Europe and Africa.
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00:00 Sekou Keita is a virtuoso of the kora, a traditional West African stringed instrument.
00:09 What does it sound like?
00:10 How does Sekou bring it into completely different musical contexts?
00:15 And what challenges does he face in the process?
00:20 What I come from, a lot of the music is done by memories, to remember patterns, and then
00:24 have to, when you write it, then I have to stick with the writing.
00:29 That's the challenge bit.
00:37 How can the West African kora find a connection to European classical music?
00:43 Sekou worked on this question for 15 years.
00:46 His answer is the African Rhapsodies that he and the BBC Concert Orchestra performed
00:51 in the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham.
01:01 The audience is moved.
01:02 This music just fills you full of joy.
01:05 It brings tears.
01:08 Comforting to words from the heart.
01:11 Very seldom do I ever go to somewhere where I cry all the way through.
01:16 Absolutely wonderful.
01:17 It was heavenly.
01:19 Back in the days, there was an empire called Gabu Empire.
01:23 So there, the kings used to order their compositions.
01:27 They would ask, some kora player will compose a special song for an event.
01:34 And I find a similarity.
01:35 In fact, I have noticed writers back in the classical world, Bach or whatever, they also
01:40 have this system there.
01:42 So somehow, there's a similarity happening in different parts of this world.
01:46 I think here we've got something really special.
01:48 There's a real sort of team vision of what we're trying to do.
01:54 We're always learning from each other's backgrounds, each other's music, and I think that's a wonderful
01:58 thing.
02:04 Sekou Keta came from a family of griots, the professional poets, singers and historians
02:10 that have passed on traditional knowledge for centuries.
02:13 Essentially, West African bards.
02:22 Sekou's been living in Nottingham in England's East Midlands since 2004.
02:27 I was born in the southern part of Senegal, a place called Kazamas, a town called Zigansho.
02:33 So I grew up there with my grandfather, my mom's father, who was my mentor.
02:38 So age of seven, my grandfather taught me how to build my first instrument.
02:43 Age of 14, I start to learn the repertoire of some traditional songs that dated back
02:47 in century with a story behind them.
02:50 Age of 18, and I left the family.
02:53 The kora originated in West Africa, probably in the 13th or 14th century.
02:59 It's made of a calabash or pumpkin gourd covered with an animal skin with a long wooden neck
03:03 attached.
03:05 It's played using only the thumbs and index fingers.
03:24 What makes a fusion of kora and classical especially tricky is that while music is consigned
03:29 to paper in Europe, Sekou only learned it orally.
03:36 When I was young, I asked my uncle, I wanted to go to the conservatoire to learn how to
03:43 read and write music like that.
03:46 And he said no.
03:48 And I was very disappointed because he said to me, you don't need it, you got it there.
03:52 So if you open this thing in the mail, it's just like, okay, lovely lines, numbers, what
03:57 are they?
03:58 So I have to hear it.
04:03 The premiere in Nottingham proved that Sekou has successfully integrated the kora into
04:07 classical music.
04:09 This cross-fertilization of musical traditions has borne rich fruit.
04:15 (applause)