ELLIKA, SOLO & RAFAEL - NOW

• ellika, solo, rafael: now
      (2013, cd, sweden, country & eastern ce26)

Mexican percussionist Rafael Sida has teamed up with Swedish-Senegalese duo Ellika Frisell and Solo Cissokho to record an album for the Swedish Country & Eastern label.

Country & Eastern is known for its fine jazz and world music releases. Label manager Bengt Berger’s journeys to India and Ghana are the reason for Bengt’s interest in world music. As the C&E website says: “Country & Eastern will produce live music and albums with what we consider Great music regardless of style. The common factor is quality.”

So if you thought that a Swedish-Senegalese duo is not an everyday combination, wait untill you will hear this Mexican-Swedish-Senegalese trio.

Ellika Frisell plays the violin and the viola. Her roots are to be found in the Swedish folk tradition. Solo Cissokho’s main instrument is the kora, an instrument that looks like a guitar and sounds like a harp.
Ellika and Solo met in 1998 and already made two albums together. Together with percussionis Rafael Sida, they present their first album as a trio, entitled “Now.

On “Now”, one can hear a beautiful mixture of three different cultures. Closer listening shows that each instrument has its own sound, carrying its own history, and adding this to the whole.

This is nice. This is very nice.

Both Solo Cissokho and Rafael Sida Huizar added vocals to the recording. My favourite track is “Skänklat frank Bingsjö / Sahadougou / Kelefapolska / Kelefaba”, a very impressive song in which the three instruments and the vocals all blend.

http://www.countryandeastern.se

Here's the trio in concert with Sigge Krantz: