“Beyond Black” is the title given to the meeting of two great musicians from two continents: Africa and America. Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko meets his colleague from across the Atlantic, jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell. Their meeting was set up to allow the emergence of a new, hybrid musical space that goes beyond confinement in the notions of identity.

Nicole Mitchell is a renowned flautist and former chair of the AACM. Ballaké Sissoko an innovative kora player from Mali. Both are esteemed composers and both have defied convention in their respective genres: Mitchell’s adoption of Afrofuturism and cosmic bliss, Sissoko’s integration of western guitar progressions into kora compositions.

Both bring traditional forms into new spaces, both bring a history of collaboration across genres. This congruence began in Paris in 2014 as the awkwardly titled Beyond Black but once the Bamako musicians had arrived in Chicago in 2017, their new title was born.

Sweetly haunting flute and kora, beckoning the title song of this album. The atmosphere is electric, almost surreal, a mix of playfulness and loving focus, creating a sense of family, overcoming odds to forge something groundbreaking. What more could one expect from a collaboration between two internationally esteemed composers: renowned flutist, former AACM chair, Nicole Mitchell, and innovative kora player, Bamako’s musical ambassador,

Cast: Ballaké Sissoko, Nicole Mitchell, Babani Kone, Fassery Diabate, Josh Abrams, Jovia Amstrong, Mankwe Ndosi, Felton Offard