Kora Flamenca Concert

Following the success of Kora flamenca (Félix of the year – best world music album at ADISQ and the Canadian Folk Music Awards in the best world music album category), Zal Sissokho and Caroline Planté once again combine their 2 cultures musical: Afro-Mandingo music and flamenco.

📍Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, Ottawa-Canada
🗓 Wednesday, February 5, 2025
🕗 Doors opening 7pm
💲$20- 15 for Alliance Française Ottawa members

Kora flamenca II are 10 new songs, shared equally between the two composers and artists. Through their music, Zal (kora and voice) and Caroline Planté (flamenco guitar and voice) offer a colorful journey, to the sound of their encounter, accompanied by Miguel Medina on percussion and Jean Félix Mailloux on double bass.

Quatuor formation (4 people)

Zal Sissokho (composition, arrangements, kora, vocals)

Caroline Planté (composition, arrangements, guitar, vocals)

Miguel Medina (percussions)

Jean Félix Mailloux (Double Bass)

Trio formation (3 people)

Zal Sissokho (composition, arrangements, kora, vocals)

Caroline Planté (composition, arrangements, guitar, vocals)

Miguel Medina (percussions)

La Parole Live:

– Live au festival Nuits d’afrique:

Focus on artists

ZAL SISSOKHO

Zal Sissokho plays the kora and sings.

Not every musician who comes from Africa is a griot. These bearers of oral traditions are from the Kouyaté, Diabaté or Sissokho castes; the only three great families who peddle the memory of the Mandinka people. Zal Idrissa Sissokho doesn’t just have the name, he has the background and this incredible ability to improvise.

Arriving in Montreal in 1999 and receiving grants from the Canada and Quebec Councils for the Arts on several occasions since 2001, Zal Idrissa Sissokho quickly took his place in the Montreal soundscape.

A prolific, generous artist with a desire to take the kora and Afro-Mandingo music ever further, he has accumulated recognition, prizes and exchanges with many artists from all continents.

The kora, his instrument, this 21-string African harp blends wonderfully well with contemporary Western music.

By addressing current and primordial themes of society, Zal Sissokho highlights the unique sound of his instrument and invites discovery and travel.

His music with Afro-Mandingo accents, his mixed compositions, his warm and rooted voice and his committed words are highlighted in each of his 5 albums, all rich in multiple collaborations and focused on sharing.

CAROLINE PLANTÉ

Caroline Planté is a composer and flamenco guitarist.

She had the chance to learn music from the age of 7 with her father, Marcel Planté “El Rubio”, one of the pioneers of the genre in Canada in the 1960s.

She is one of the few women in the world to practice this art, which was “reserved” for men, until not so long ago.

Caroline is one of those who actively collaborated, without planning it, in breaking the mold. She is the first woman in the world to compose and perform a flamenco guitar album (8reflexiones – recorded in Madrid in 2010).

She has more than 30 years of stage experience and is recognized for the quality of her compositions and her eclectic collaborations.

After a 10-year career in Spain with the Cruceta Flamenco troupe, with whom she acted as musical director, composer and performer from 2004 to 2013, she returned to Montreal with the desire to broaden her horizons and since then has multiplied collaborations. with artists from different musical styles and works in parallel on his personal projects which are associated with several awards.