More often than not, when musicians talk about the importance of the space between the notes they play and the ambiance they’re creating, it’s more of an idea than a reality. For French cellist Vincent Segal and kora player Ballaké Sissoko, the ambiance on the pair’s latest CD, Musique de Nuit, almost becomes a third member of the duo.
Recorded over three nights in Bamako, Mali, Musique de Nuit captures the sympathetic interplay between two virtuosos—one a cellist and the other a master of the kora, a 21-string harp from Western Africa.
In lesser hands, Segal’s familiar and exotic sounds and rhythms could be gimmicky or schlocky. Instead, his masterful playing and powerful left- and right-hand techniques serve to elevate his partner and the music. The results are magical and unlike anything I can recall. “Balazano” is a great example of the diversity of the tonal and technical palette Segal seamlessly employs throughout Musique. Beginning with a flurry of pizzicato ostinatos and double-stops that evoke a jazz bass solo, Segal than grabs his bow to back the kora’s lullaby-like melody.
First, he uses an arco tone that sounds like the controlled feedback mastered by guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, before playing a counter-melody with an utterly convincing flute-like tone coaxed from his cello by sul pont bowing.
The stunningly fresh and creative music Sissoko and Segal create on Musique de Nuit has the kind of magic that shrinks the world to the intimate scale of music made by two master musicians listening to each other.