THE KORA BAND

The Kora Band integrates the uniquely entrancing timbre of the kora, a traditional 21-string harp from West Africa, into a jazz context, bringing together two musical traditions with historical connections to create a totally unique sound reflecting the globalized world of the 21st century. Led by the band’s founder, London-based, American jazz pianist and composer Andrew Oliver, it features New York-based virtuoso Kane Mathis on kora, Chad Mc Cullough from Chicago on trumpet, Brady Millard – Kish from Seattle on bass, and Mark Di Florio, also from Seattle, on drums. Oliver founded the band in America after a 2007 US State Department tour of West Africa, drawing on Kane Mathis’s two decades of study in The Gambia and in the US. The band performs original music by Andrew Oliver as well as traditional repertoire from across West Africa. It’s first recording, made when the leader was based in Portland, read more...