Traversées is the latest release featuring the on-going collaboration between the Senegalese griot Ablaye Cissoko and Montreal-based group Constantinople. The album was released earlier in 2019 and I’m so happy to share that it has received a glowing 5-star review in the world-music magazine Songlines: ‘One of the most beautiful discs of the year so far.’

We recorded Traversées at the incredible-sounding Arsonic concert hall in Mons, Belgium, with the help of excellent engineer Jarek Frankowski. This is a recording where the acoustic space plays a huge role in the shaping the outcome of the music performed. Arsonic is an incredible warm, reverberant room, designed specifically to amplify acoustic sounds and I feel like the sound of my percussion set-up really shines on this disc. While it was difficult to adjust to achieve the right balance without headphones or amplified sounds at all, I personally think the vibe that was achieved gives the record an extra element of magic.
You can listen to some excerpts here.