Diabel Cissokho

Event information

The third concert of ‘Our Music Planet’ Festival is a celebration of the music from Senegal, West Africa. We welcome the highly lauded Master Kora player, Diabel Cissokho for his first performance at Calstock Arts. As a creative visionary, pushing the boundaries of the Senegalese sound, he has become an ambassador for the new generation of Senegalese music. With his “resonant voice and rocking kora style” (Songlines magazine), he brings his unique Afro-Mandingue Blues style, transcendent Mandinkan melodies, and lively Senegalese rhythms to the Old Chapel. Diabel will be accompanied by Joff Watkins on harmonica and Seydou Kienou on percussion.
Diabel Cissokho is fiercely proud of his Mandinka heritage and Senegalese roots, coming from a great line of Cissokho Griots. Not just musicians, griots are performers, historians, messengers, and custodians of oral traditions. To be a griot is a significant honour, a role that carries the weight of history and tradition, entrusted with the responsibility of preserving and transmitting oral histories across generations. Diabel is a passionate promoter and protector of griot culture and of the 21-stringed Kora, the iconic instrument in griot musical traditions, and synonymous with the sound of West African music. He recently contributed to the BBC programme ‘African Renaissance:Senegal’, exploring his role as a griot. He has an exceptional musical having toured internationally and performed with world class musicians including Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, Pee Wee Ellis and Paul McCartney. He has played WOMAD, Glastonbury and performed live on the Cerys Matthews show on Radio 6 Music. In October 2025, he was invited to perform for delegates at the United Nations HQ in New York.
Joff Watkins is one of the UK's foremost harmonica players, known for his outstanding playing on both chromatic and diatonic harmonicas. He has played sessions for many artists, touted internationally and has appeared on BBC Radio 2,3,4 and 6. He is also a member of one of the UK's leading blues bands Jimmy Regal and the Royals.