The Kora Band, an ensemble which integrates the uniquely entrancing timbre of the kora — a traditional 21-string harp from West Africa — into a jazz context, present their third release New Cities and first for Whirlwind. The new album showcases a suite composed by pianist and bandleader Andrew Oliver commissioned by the 2012 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works program. The material explores the intersection between contemporary jazz and one of its main ancestors in west African Mandinka music, exploring the boundaries between these two musical cultures and honoring the jazz tradition of combining disparate musical elements into a vibrant and coherent whole.

Recently, London Jazz ran a feature on The Kora Band  in which Andrew Oliver, the founder of the band, explains how his fascination with the kora began.

“There I was, playing in Africa with a saxophonist I’d met while studying in New Orleans, Devin Phillips, when this kora player arrived and sat in with us. I knew what a kora was but the sound wasn’t what I expected. That was the initial attraction, an amazing and unique sonic experience. But then there’s also how it works rhythmically. It’s so contrapuntal, with all these independent lines that interlock. I thought, if we could find a way of integrating this instrument into our music in a more substantial way, it would be really interesting.”
Andrew Oliver

Here’s the full feature  (read)

And here’s a full length version of ‘The Contract’ from New Cities