Kora Flamenca

This album, by Montréal-based Senegalese kora player Zal Sissokho, is the fruit of the Centre des Musiciens du Monde, a place of encounters and musical exchange in the Québécois city. The idea was inspired by a trip Sissokho made to Seville and, in reality, it’s more like a joint effort between him and Canadian guitarist Caroline Planté. It’s a pleasant disc, with well recorded instruments – double bass and percussion complete the line-up. However, while Sissokho has an agreeable voice, the songs are not especially captivating. There is a similarity of tone across the whole album and at times a lack of originality in the songwriting. The interplay of the two lead instruments, both noted for their dazzling finger work, holds great promise, but the result is strangely muted here. It’s as if they are playing simultaneously rather than collectively. There are some lovely moments, like the oud solo in ‘Bonheur’ against a web of plucked accompaniment. But ultimately it feels like neither one thing nor the other and carries a sense of displacement rather than encounter.