Tag Archive for: Angélique Kidjo

Threads of Africa at NC Museum of Art

To conclude their Threads of Africa celebration and the 20th anniversary summer concert series, the North Carolina Museum of Art presents a free concert by Angélique Kidjo with Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, hailed by Time magazine as “Africa’s premier diva.” Kidjo blends the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk, and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. A three-time Grammy winner, Kidjo is admired throughout the world.

Opening for Angélique Kidjo is Diali Cissokho, a griot born to a family of professional musicians in Senegal, who currently makes his home in North Carolina. Cissokho is a master of the kora, a traditional West African instrument with strings and a skin-and-gourd resonator. Cissokho and his band Kaira Ba have created an electrifying style of West African dance music that has attracted a fervent following.