The kora, iconic Mande instrument, has well and truly crossed from its West African home into the global music-place.This is well demonstrated by these three new releases: the first putting the kora into an improvisational duo contextwith one of the world’s greatest jazz drummers, the second into a thoroughly contemporary jazz-rock-funk outfit,based in Marseilles, while the third inhabits a multi-cultural jazz quartet. The common theme here is jazz, and perhaps the dancing, rippling sound of the kora does lend itself readily to jazz, particularly because improvisational ability is a key musicianship requirement.

“Music from the Hearts of the Masters” – Jack de Johnette/ Foday Musa Sosa (Golden Beams/ New Note) 

The Jack de Johnette/ Foday Musa Suso album is a rewarding listen. Foday Musa Suso is a US based virtuoso of the kora who has collaborated with Philip Glass, Herbie Hancock and Bill Laswell. Jack de Johnette was once Miles Davis’ drummer of choice, and has also played with John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and many other jazz luminaries. The sensitivity of their interplay is striking and there is no sense of any other instruments being necessary. The kora provides rhythmic groove, melody and solo virtuosity while the drums provide such a broad range of rhythmic embellishment and colour that they are almost melodic at times. The music can be experienced as a high-quality tasteful background atmospheric, but is better addressed as an endlessly inventive and fascinating improvisational dialogue Nigel Wood

Electric Griot Land - Ba Cissoko (Totolo/ All Other) 

Ba Cissoko’s follow-up to “Sabolan” is a heady mix of jazz, rock, funk and reggae, underpinned by a strong rootsy feel throughout. The band features two kora players, Ba himself, and Sekou Kouyate who adds electronic and distortion effects to his instrument. The result is a thoroughly contemporary sound which places the traditional sound of their native Guinea into a modern context. Mainstream success, a la Amadou & Mariam, surely beckons. The title of the album, “Electric Griot Land”, gives a hint of one of their Western influences, and the intro to “Le reve de L’Oiseau” is a jazzy echo of the famous “Voodoo Chile intro. Guests such as K’Naan, Tiken Jah Fakoly, and the Nubians, add variety to the vocal style, and some of the funky reggae tracks in particular are a delight – “rippling funk” is the term that springs to mind as the kora adds its rhythm to the mix. A very satisfying album which manages to combine roots with modernism and does no disservice to either. Nigel Wood

Afro-Mandinka Soul (Tama-Silo)” – Seckou Keita Quartet (ARC Music) 

In some ways the third of these albums featuring the kora sounds the most traditional, albeit with a jazzier rhythmic feel to some of the songs. However the line-up is far from traditional, including as it does Egyptian violinist Samy Bishai, and Italian double-bassist Davide Mantovani. Moreover Seckou Keita, a UK-based native of Senegal, uses some non-traditional tunings on his kora and is open and experimental in his approach, following the example of his uncle, Solo Cissoko, who has collaborated with Swedish folk musician, Ellika Frisell. Indeed Seckou has played with English and Scottish folkies and has expressed an interest in playing with Irish musicians. Watch this space. Seckou has a warm soulful voice and his kora chimes and ripples across a gently funky bass-line on the opening “N’Fa”, lyrically a shot across the bows of older generations. The second track, “Tounga”, opens as a beautiful swaying piece, featuring the gorgeous vocals of Seckou’s half-sister, Binta Susso, and the earthy sound of the riti (single-string fiddle) on the jazzier mid-section. Elsewhere there are some nice contrasts between the rippling, scurrying sound of the kora and Samy Bishai’s long soulful strokes on the violin. The songs are almost all composed by Seckou and the overall feel of the music is quite jazzy but well-rooted in West African folk tradition too. An engrossing album which, again, like the two albums above, is pushing forward the frontiers of the kora repertoire. Nigel Wood