Welcome back to "the mystery." You know what that is. It's the amazing and oftentimes unexplainable phenomenon of musical resonance. You hear a piece of music and the attraction is instant. There are times when this kind of thing is obvious. Earlier this year, I heard a song called "Sequestered In Memphis" by The Hold Steady and all of the familiar alarms went off. What drew me in though, was no mystery. Throw Cheap Trick and a little Springsteen in a blender and there you have it. Loads of fun. Loads of loud fun.
The music of Ablaye Cissoko and Volker Goetze is at the far, far end of the mystery spectrum. Sure, the quiet is nice, and so is the space between the notes (that danged Miles Davis, he was so right about this). But there is a story being told here, musical and otherwise. I have yet to crack it wide open, but it's not for lack of trying.
A story? Well, more concretely, you should know that Cissoko is a griot singer from Senegal. What continues to amaze me is that I know not a single syllable of Cissoko's language, and yet I feel like I'm getting something out of his delivery. Part of it is definitely his reedy and beautiful voice. The rest? I still don't know. It reminds me of this Jimmie Dale Gilmore quote I read recently: "Part of the magic of music for me is that it can evoke emotions that you can't even have otherwise, emotion there isn't even a word for."
The music on Sira is delivered with the sparse instrumentation of the 21-stringed West African kora (played by Cissoko) and the trumpet of Volker Goetze. The kora is quite versatile, allowing bass lines to be played with melody added on top. Sonically, it's also a fine compliment to the muted and round tone of Goetze's horn. "Haunting" might be a clichéd description here, but it really does fit. The two musicians take turns with the melodic lead role — doing so in such a subtle and natural manner that sometimes you miss the transitions. They conjure up a very warm and intimate musical relationship.
And maybe that's it. Maybe it's that warmth I'm attracted to. Or maybe it's the stories I haven't actually learned yet... or the emotions that just can't be labeled.
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