Ablaye Cissoko & Cyrille Brotto @ Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, USA, 04/16/2025

[concert_goer]

The Senegalese kora master Ablaye Cissoko and the French diatonic accordionist Cyrille Brotto in concert at the Freight. They played quite a lot of tunes, some instrumental and others featuring Ablaye's vocals. I had listened to one of the duo's albums and was somewhat puzzled by the constantly shifting moods and the overall experimental feel of the recording, but the live show turned out to be very different. The kora and accordion blended impressively, creating a beautiful melodic tapestry. Most of the pieces were slow, calm, and meditative, and a couple fiery ones made it into the mix as well. A charming concert! That said, speaking about the kora, I was more impressed by its weaving with guitar, delivered in the performance by Ballaké Sissoko and Derek Gripper at the Freight back in January, though I still thoroughly enjoyed Ablaye and Cyrille's show. They played for about an hour and a half.