Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté at RNCM

Hailing from Mali, Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki are set to spice up the Manchester music scene this May with virtuoso performances on the kora, a 21-string West African harp. The father-son duo descend from a long line of kora players called griots, traditional folk storytellers who use music to embellish their tales. Sidiki himself is named after his grandfather, who for decades was known throughout West Africa as ‘the King of Kora’. In 2006, Toumani won a Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album, following a tour with Ali Farka Touré, and this is the first time he is collaborating with his son on a tour that includes the UK’s premier classical music venues. With much of their performance based on improvisation and free-flowing rhythms, the evening promises to be a spiritually moving experience from two of the world’s best African classical musicians.

Sat 24 May, RNCM, 124 Oxford Road, M13 9RD, Tel: 0161 907 5200, 8pm, £18 – £20, www.rncm.ac.uk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rmDUvronPQ