Seckou Keita Quartet

Seckou Keita Quartet

Seckou Keita Quartet is a Senegalese world music group led by kora player Seckou Keita. The project centres on Keita’s playing, which moves across jazz, classical, flamenco, rock and reggae influences, while remaining rooted in the kora tradition. The group’s sound is built around an international line-up and a strongly collaborative approach.

Line-up

The quartet is led by Seckou Keita and includes Davide Mantovani on bass, Surahata Susso on percussion, Samy Bishai on violin, and Binta Suso on vocals. The group’s members bring different musical backgrounds, and the arrangement of those parts is central to the ensemble’s sound.

Music and activity

The group performs material associated with Keita’s broader work as an experimental kora player. Its repertoire is linked to a live approach that emphasises ensemble interplay, stage presence and a blend of instrumental and vocal textures. One of its noted recordings is The Silimbo Passage, an album that receives critical attention and reflects the group’s developed live rapport.

Across Keita’s wider musical work, drumming also forms an important part of his practice. He develops a teaching method for percussion and works with several instruments and styles, including Guinean djembe, Senegalese percussion such as tama and sabar, Mandinka seourouba and drum kit. He also works as a producer and produces his own albums, as well as the family album Jalikunda Cissokho.

Performance background

The quartet’s activity includes extensive touring, with more than 350 shows in 20 countries, helping to shape its live identity. The group presents itself as a cross-cultural ensemble built around Keita’s kora playing and a shared musical language rather than a single genre.