Crack

The Arnolfini is one of the best drinking spots in Bristol. Overlooking the harbour it’s calm, sedate and sees a healthy amount of summer Sunday afternoon cider drinking.

Keeping the summer vibe firmly intact, people often try and soundtrack the sun-soaked ambience found in this particular spot. This heralds mixed results. Senegalese master kora player Moussa Kouyate doesn’t have this problem.

Moussa is 53 years-old and plays the instrument with alarming regularity in many different spots around the city. Today the Arnolfini’s waterfront has the pleasure of being lit up by the sounds of his wonderful playing. Crack stops caring who is talking and decides to spend ten minutes in the company of one of the nicest sounds you are ever likely to hear.

This sound would not work on an overcast day in the middle of winter. The music of the kora and the imagination of the listener allow you to take on the guise of a new-age hippie and be transported somewhere a lot better and presumably hotter.

After mesmerising onlookers at Crack’s launch party last month, Moussa’s playing is as frequent as ever as he looks to squeeze the last drop of summer sunshine out of the kora. This is what makes Moussa such an enigmatic wonderful person. The sound he makes is all about presenting the kora to the wider public. He is as far removed from a fret smashing rock star as you would ever hope to meet. Crack was paid the best compliment it may have ever received after our launch party.

Moussa said: “I was very surprised at your launch party. When you could have had rock music, or pop music, you chose the kora player and that spirit in you I appreciate.”

Softly spoken and with a passion for his instrument unrivalled by anyone Crack has ever met, Moussa sees the kora as part of his heritage and his masterful playing as his gift to society.

“I have learned the Kora from my parents and it has always been part of my travels. My grandfather also played the kora and he taught my father. I now teach my son who is 20 years-old. I want to introduce the kora to the youths of England. It only takes one person to take it up seriously because many people hear the kora and they are blown away. I have much love for the kora and for the sound because I feel connected to it.”

The kora has been part of Moussa’s adult life for as long as he can remember and he has committed his life to spreading his own personal message of peace and happiness through his playing.

He explains: “Technology means people have much greater levels of communication these days. The kora playing is similar to 900 year-old methods of musical communication, but I do appreciate the modern world. It is easier to communicate these days, but we should not forget the older ways.”

With the amount of crap plaguing our ears on the radio these days, a return to 900-year old methods of communication sounding as good as Moussa’s kora might not be such a bad idea.

Raised in Senegal before coming to England a decade ago, Moussa’s instrument is a product of his travel to England.

“I made my own instrument in Africa and I made it very strong. I made the kora I am using at the moment in 1998 before I visited England. I created it especially for my trip. Koras should be able to last for a long, long, long time.”

Moussa’s relationship with the instrument is not a complicated one. In fact it’s the simplicity of it that makes him so endearing. He is completely committed to playing it because he feels emotional attachment to it on all levels. Patriotically, spiritually and through his heritage, the instrument is like a brother to him. It’s also safe to say he’s pretty good at it too.

Moussa’s final words to Crack are an inspiration: “If you dedicate yourself to something you like to do - you communicate. Through my kora playing I dedicate myself to the world community and happiness. We are not just a Bristol community, we are global. Power in you is not just for England. You need to appreciate different cultures and I hope my kora helps the people of Bristol to do this.”



Tune: You can see Moussa all over Bristol if you look hard enough.

http://www.kora.me.uk/

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