Ladilikan -Kronos Sessions

It was clear from the first meeting of David Harrington, first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, and Malian singer Hawa Diabaté that the two were a match made in heaven. And yet the griot tradition

represented by Diabaté was unknown territory to Harrington, despite the Kronos Quartet’s decades-long history of adventurous and internationally diverse cross-cultural collaborations. 

The meeting was arranged by the Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI), a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture; the Kronos Quartet had been looking for Malian musicians to collaborate with, and were introduced to the three members of Trio Da Kali by mutual acquaintance musicologist Dr. Lucy Durán. Fodé Lassana Diabaté, balafon (xylophone) player and the trio’s musical director, vocalist Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté and bass n'goni (lute) player Mamadou Kouyaté formed the trio especially for this project.  All three are griots, repositories of an ancient oral tradition that occupies an important place in West African culture. The line-up of balafon, bass n'goni and female singer is also based on ancient tradition, but one that has continued to thrive by remaining open to renewal and external musical influences. 

Harrington: “The interaction felt really natural. We felt appreciated, and we hope they did too for the immense tradition they embody with every note they play. It’s one of our most beautiful collaborations.” 

None of the trio’s members had ever heard a string quartet, and were concerned about how well their instruments would blend with the violin, viola and cello, if they did at all. Lassana Diabaté: “Working with Kronos has changed the way I perceive my instrument. I’ve found a way to make music on the balafon in a classical music context where people sit and listen. With this project, I can show that the balafon can do it all – it can make you dance [and] it can make you listen.” 

In 2016, Fodé Lassana Diabaté composed a suite of four movements for the Kronos Quartet’s Fifty for the Future project. The suite, Sunjata's Time, which is not included on Ladilikan, the album the Kronos Quartet and Trio Da Kali made together, will be performed twice during the Kronos Sessions: the Kronos Quartet will play parts of the suite during their concert, and Ebonit, the saxophone quartet, will perform the entire suite during their show on the same day. 

The fruitful collaboration between the Kronos Quartet and Trio Da Kali has resulted in a collection of politically engaged songs inspired partly by the music of gospel singer and civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson, and includes a rendition of God Shall Wipe All Tears Away. The title track, Ladilikan, which translates as “words of advice”, also draws on a Jackson song, and the album was chosen by several publications as one of the best releases of 2017.