What I am listening to: Maher Cissoko

I have talked at length about how I discover new music. One of my biggest resources is Uncut magazine and their sampler Cd. I have been to the newsstand lately and Uncut may be the only magazine doing the CD sampler. In recent years, it was becoming limited to British magazines Mojo and Classic Rock. But Mojo which gave me some of my favorite compilations has seemed to discontinue. It’s fair, CDs are becoming obsolete. Still, this strikes me as one of the technological changes I am not quite ready for. The benefit of someone like Uncut is that they are listening to a bunch of new music and opening me to bands I would otherwise not hear. This means a variety of genres, labels and so on, that might escape my radar, since other traditional means might be too narrowly focused. So definitely have found some great music that way and today, I am focused on Maher Cissoko and his album from 2021 “Cissoko Heritage”. Maher generally plays with his wife as Sousou and Maher Cissoko. I am not sure that there is much difference in this record, except as it is considered a follow up to 2017’s Koda Fo, but the music is made by both husband and wife, as well as daughter. I’m not an expert but I will take a stab at it. Cissoko plays the Kora- a combination of lute and harp with 21 strings generally associated with West Africa that dates back over seven centuries. Maher is from Casamance, Senegal). The music he plays is traditional of his home, but at the same time combines Afrobeat, Dancehall, Reggae and other influences. Maher is also known as a talented percussionist as well. I just really dig everything about this album, and hope you enjoy a song from it too.