In early November, my boyfriend and I had the absolute pleasure of attending Seckou Keita and the Homeland Band's concert at Koko London. If I had to sum it up in one word, I’d say it was spiritual, and my boyfriend? He says it was mesmerising!

Seckou Keita is one of those rare, multi-talented musicians. He’s a masterful kora player and he’s also a djembe master - seriously, he is magic! His performance swept us all off our feet, making it impossible not to dance or lose ourselves in the beauty of it all. Each song had a story, woven intricately to the instruments on stage, including his Kora, the Southern Senegalese version with 25 strings. 

As stated on his website,“The kora is traditionally tuned by tightening rings of leather and animal skin rather than with the pegs commonly used for guitars, but he uses two very different instruments in performance, a traditional ‘ring’ version that tends to drift out of tune a lot. Constantly adjusting the tuning becomes part of the performance” 

The concert featured songs from his latest project, Homeland: Chapter 1, where he explores the meaning of “home” through the lens of his life in both the UK and his native Senegal. The result? A collection of tracks that feel deeply personal and universally moving at the same time.

If you haven’t already, give Homeland: Chapter 1 a listen.