Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal

Chamber Music is a collaboration between Ballaké Sissoko, who plays the traditional kora, a lute-harp from Mali, and Vincent Ségal, the French cellist who plays for the trip-hop band Bumcello. It was recorded in the Moffou Studio, founded by the great Malian singer Salif Keita to provide a world-class environment for musicians wishing to record acoustic, perhaps even authentic, African music.It is also, quite simply, one of the most elegant and beautiful recordings of "world music" in recent years. At a time when cross-cultural music has tended toward dance and pop fusion, Sissoko and Ségal remind us that there is room – and maybe even a need – for a quieter, more refined world music.