Taking time off from sessions tied to his latest album, Djourou<\/a>, <\/em>Ballak\u00e9 Sissoko<\/a> has recorded eight instrumental pieces in the intimate confines of the Chapelle Sainte-Apolline in Belgium. Together they proclaim the indisputable mastery and freedom that this humble giant of global music has displayed in his forty-year-long career. Though two of the pieces also featured on Djourou<\/em>, this new album gathers all eight of the instrumentals in a musical conversation between a master, made of flesh, bones and spirit, and his \u2018double,\u2019 made of string and wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The LP marks a captivating, intimate and authentic testament, recorded in one afternoon in which Ballak\u00e9 takes us on a meandering, majestical trip that borders on the sacred, treading on serene meditative uplands as well as the historic plains criss-crossed by Mandingo warriors straight from the epics of the region\u2019s proud heritage. On “Demba Kunda,” for example, the maestro takes us to his father’s Gambian village, while “Mande Tabolo” tells of the building of the Mande and “Simbo Salaba” marks a reinterpretation of a Mandingo warrior song. Ballak\u00e9 is the best ambassador of this heritage. He recently featured on the famous COLORS show stage in Berlin for a performance of \u201cNan Sira Mad<\/a>,\u201d the song that opens the new album. As for the title track, \u201cA Touma,\u201d listeners can take it to mean \u201cthis is the moment:\u201d the moment for Ballak\u00e9 to share the fruits of his maturity, and for us to be blown away by the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch Ballak\u00e9 below in a live session at the Pal\u00e1cio Duques de Cadaval in \u00c9vora, Portugal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Touma<\/a><\/em>, out via No Format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n