The Kora Band features atypical instrumentation that highlights Kane Mathis on the 21-string Kora, a traditional harp from West Africa.

In 2007 pianist Andrew Oliver’s quartet was one of ten groups selected to particpate in the U.S. State Department’s Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program. They toured five West African countries performing, teaching workshops, and working with local musicians as cultural ambassadors of the U.S.
After this unique experience, Andrew was inspired to dive deeper into the relationship between jazz and West African music. His exploration eventually led to the founding of the Kora Band, featuring atypical instrumentation that highlights Kane Mathis on the 21-string Kora, a traditional harp from West Africa. Kane is one of the most accomplished American Kora players, having studied with the famous Jobarteh (Diabate) family in Gambia, in the same compound that produced three generations of the country’s most famous musicians.

The result of this unique and exotic marriage is what the Wilamette Week calls, “Gorgeous, moving. Transcends mere exoticism.” KBCS’s Caravan Host John Gilbreath made The Kora Band his first recommendation when the Treehouse asked for tips on who to bring to Bainbridge Island. And their CD Cascade won the Earshot Jazz Album of the Year.
Here’s what critics say about The Kora band:

“World jazz projects frequently come off as gimmicky. Not so with the Kora Band, a group of Portland and Seattle musicians — several by way of New Orleans — who successfully incorporate West African rhythms and textures into their otherwise mainstream jazz sound. The kora, a 21-string instrument that, as played by Kane Mathis, sometimes shimmers, sometimes flickers. At nearly all times, it’s integrated handily into the group’s unusual sound, as opposed to merely serving as an exotic flavor.”—Phillip Booth

“The band fuses western styles and influences with the music of The Gambia, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast. While Mathis is a western musician, he learned the kora and the accompanying language he occasionally sings in The Gambia, and his mastery is what leads this group.There are elements of western jazz, African song and rhythm, and even Cuban music. The kora sounds a bit like a harpsichord, koto and sitar combined. It’s a lovely sound, and one that makes the disc more folk-oriented.”— The Seattle Weekly.

The Treehouse Cafe is proud to bring this rare blend of sophisticated entertaniment to Bainbridge Island!

Check out a taste of Kora live: