Ballaké Sissoko, a renowned Malian kora player, was born in 1968. His father, Djelimady Sissoko, was a skilled musician from the Gambia who moved to Mali and became a member of the national orchestra, receiving government funding. This exposure to music from a young age was a natural progression for Ballaké, who was born into the jeli or griot caste, a tradition that emphasizes the importance of music and storytelling in Malian culture.
Tragedy struck when Ballaké was just 13 years old, as his father passed away in 1981. In his father's place, Ballaké took up the mantle within the Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali, and he also began performing with several prominent female singers. It was his collaboration with Toumani Diabaté in 1999 that brought him widespread recognition. In 2000, he formed the trio Mande Tabolo with an n'goni player and a balafon player.
Ballaké's 2005 album Tomora featured a range of talented musicians, including Toumani Diabaté on kora, singers Alboulkadri Barry and Rokia Traoré, and Fanga Diawara, the violin soloist of the Mali National Instrumental Ensemble. His 2009 album Chamber Music was the result of a collaboration with Vincent Ségal, a classical cellist known for his work with Bumcello, and was released by the French label No Format! and the US label Six Degrees Records.
In 2013, Ballaké released a solo album, At Peace, which was produced by Ségal and featured his cello playing on several tracks. His most recent album, Djourou, released in 2021, takes its name from the unfortunate events that occurred during his 2020 US tour. While returning to Paris from a concert, Ballaké discovered that his €5000 custom-made kora had been dismantled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Despite the components remaining intact, the kora would take weeks to return to its former state of resonance, a devastating blow to the musician.
Ballaké's manager, Corinne Serres, described the incident, stating that even if the components were left intact, it would take weeks for a kora of such calibre to regain its former resonance. The customs agency denied opening the kora case, which should not have triggered an alarm in the security scanners.
