From traditional kora to jazzy kora

The Birth of the Jazzy-Kora

The first times I heard the traditional kora were through the playing of Toumani Diabaté and Mamadou Diabaté. I felt as though I had entered a world that was at once ancient, modern, and almost transcendent — a sound universe that goes straight to the soul and opens the imagination. With its large calabash covered in stretched skin and its 21 strings, the kora seemed to me almost unattainable. Yet the desire to try, and eventually to build one, gradually took over.

After crafting a first 32-string kora and developing a more personal style of playing while keeping the spirit of the kora alive, I wanted — like other luthiers before me — to go further: to create a true chromatic kora, not simply a kora fitted with semitone levers.

Unique in the world, the Jazzy-Kora stands out with its wooden body and soundboard, pierced with f-holes reminiscent of a cello or a double bass. With its 32 strings and two pedals, it opens the instrument to new horizons: chromaticism, but also effects similar to guitar bends, which further broaden the range of possible expressions. The pedals become a true extension of the playing itself, linking hands and feet into a single musical gesture.

The Jazzy-Kora is not meant to replace its ancestor, but to extend its story: a bridge between memory and invention, between Africa and the West, between living tradition and sonic exploration. It was born from a dream that once seemed impossible, turned into reality through my hands… and my feet! A reality that, I hope, will continue to resonate and evolve for a long time to come.