Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita

Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita join forces in a stunning exhibition of world-class musicianship, celebrating the remarkable affinities between the Welsh harp and the West African kora. Catrin Finch, a celebrated classical harpist, has won accolades the world over for her virtuosic performances with some of the world’s finest orchestras. A fearless performer, she has also worked with Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, and Colombian band Cimarrón, and switches from Bach’s Goldberg Variations to traditional folk or Colombian joropo music with apparent ease.

Born into the world-famous royal Keita and griot Cissokho families, Seckou Keita from the Casamance area of Senegal has earned worldwide acclaim for his ground-breaking kora playing, and in addition to his solo career, winning Songlines Best Africa and Middle East category in 2016 for his solo album '22 Strings', Seckou has played with his uncle Solo Cissokho and Guinean master djembe player Mamady Keita, Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour, and most recently alongside Paul Weller, Damon Albarn and Julia Holter on the Africa Express presents The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians tour.

Despite Catrin coming from a classical background and Seckou unable to read music, they’ve found a huge amount of common ground and draw on their diverse traditions and transform them with remarkable synergy; Mandinka rhythms mix effortlessly with Welsh tunes, with hypnotic improvisations from both in a set which is at once exhilarating and mesmerising. Impossible to pigeon-hole, their music blurs the boundaries between world music, classical, folk and traditional genres. Their debut album Clychau Dibon has attracted huge interest and a clutch of 4 and 5 star reviews from music Industry press with UNCUT Magazine’s Neil Spencer describing it as “intricate, ethereal and entrancing, an elaborate pas-de-deux...remarkable”. The Guardian. Their track Future Strings, written by Seckou and performed by the duo on Clychau Dibon, was recently sampled by Robbie Williams on his record-breaking album The Heavy Entertainment Show.

The harp occupies a vital place in the incredibly rich cultures of both West Africa and Wales, and both nations share a centuries-old bardic tradition of intricate oral history, expressed through music, song and verse. The remarkable affinities between the harp and the kora as well as the Welsh and West African cultures from which they have emerged are fused on 'Clychau Dibon' into a single intensely inspiring river of music. The Guardian’s Robin Denselow gave their live London debut at Bush Hall a 5* review, describing it as “...one of the classic concerts of the year....magnificent" .

Catrin and Seckou's new album 'SOAR' releases on 27 April 2018 on the bendigedig label.

SOAR takes flight on the wings of the osprey, the magnificent bird of prey, which makes its annual 3,000-mile migration from West African coasts to the estuaries of Wales, soaring like music over man-made borders on its epic journey of endurance.

The music explores themes of migration and journeys, both emotional and physical, exploring and celebrating the parallels and differences between the Welsh harp and the West African kora and their cultures.

The harp occupies a vital place in the incredibly rich cultures of both West Africa and Wales, and both nations share a centuries-old bardic tradition of intricate oral history, expressed through music, song and verse.

The release will be followed by UK tours in spring and the autumn of 2018.

PRESS QUOTES:

“ a sublime duo of two artists who are masters of their instruments...musicality and architecture at work” Simon Broughton, London Evening Standard

“intricate, ethereal and entrancing, an elaborate pas-de deux...remarkable” Neil Spencer, UNCUT Magazine

“...one of the classic concerts of the year....magnificent". Robin Denselow, The Guardian