Maher Cissoko

Maher Cissoko was raised with the West African music tradition in Casamance in southern Senegal. He is from a famous Jali family and has been surrounded by music during all his life. Jalis are Griots (hereditary musicians) and they have functioned as carriers of history and tradition from generation to generation for more than 700 years. Maher learnt playing the kora from his father Jali Kemo Cissoko and singing from his mother Bintou Konte from Mali. Besides playing the kora, Maher also learnt how to play many different West African percussion intruments during his upbringing, such as Calabash, Djembe, Doun-Doun and Tama (Talking Drum). Maher has been living in Germany where he was playing with musicians from different parts of the world, exploring jazz and flamenco music as well as his own kora music. He has also been touring around European festivals such as Womad and Glastonbury with his brother Solo Cissokho and the family band Jalikunda Cissokho.