Veteran kora master Toumani Diabaté and Kayhan Kalhor soar to the top spot on the June edition of the Transglobal World Music Chart with a new release on Real World, The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere. Diabaté is well-known for his cross-cultural collaborations, from his early days with Ketama, a flamenco, jazz, West Africa fusion, to later work with the London Symphony Orchestra (Korolen), while Kalhor is an award-winning Kurdish-Iranian master of the kamancheh (fiddle) and setar (lute).
The pairing was initiated in 2016 by the director of the Morgenland Festival in Germany, Michael Dreyer. With minimal preparation, the duo went on stage and played for 90 minutes. They played a few shows in Europe and recorded the album. On the Real World website, Diabaté noted that: "It's like this music was already waiting for us. And it's like the two of us knew each other before -- in another life."
I have seen Diabaté do the same with other musicians, notably years ago when he told a Japanese koto player just to lead off and he would follow. He seems to be able to perform, always with just the right input, with any musician. This beautiful album offers a moment of musical calm to soothe our troubled times.
