Madou Sidiki Diabaté & Salif Bamakora

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Ankur Malhotra / simritkaurmusic.com

Madou Sidiki Diabaté (left) and Salif Bamakora.

Madou Sidiki Diabaté (left) and Salif Bamakora.

The new Gamma Ray Bar (in the space formerly home to The Frequency and Slipper Club) just opened June 1, and is already scheduling some unique concerts, including the kora duo of Madou Sidiki Diabaté and Salif Bamakora. Diabaté is of the 71st generation in his West African family’s long lineage of griots; Bamakora is his student. This Madison Music Review concert is a rare chance to see the duo in the Midwest.

media release: Gamma Ray is thrilled to present the 71st generation master of the Kora from Mali...Madou Sidiki Diabate!! Tickets on sale now!

Doors @ 8pm Show @ 9pm

$20 Cover & 21+

Join us for an experience of the history, power, magic and guidance of the West African Kora with world renowned 71st-generation virtuoso Madou Sidiki Diabaté, accompanied by his longtime student Salif Bamakora, as the duo explore and interpret the traditional repertoire of songs and stories of the djeli, or griots, the hereditary keepers of knowledge encoded in music. Serving for centuries as advisors, emissaries, oral historians and peacemakers, the djeli maintain the people’s ties to their cultural inheritance and vitality of purpose with a resilient and adaptive cordage of intertwined praise and remembrance. Masterful musicianship combined with glimpses of the rich and storied significance of West Africa’s musical memory enlivened and animated by the harp strings of an ancient tradition still blossoming in the 21st century.  

This is the first Midwest tour by this duo, and rarely does Madison get a treat like this. 40 strings of bliss that will transport you to a different dimension in the otherworldly space of the new Gamma Ray Bar. Produced by Madison Music Review. Supported by WORT.