Cat No: PDCD018
Format: CD

Mali Diary (Diario Mali) is a studio recording of duets between the highly successful Italian classical-crossover pianist, Ludovico Einaudi, and Mali musician Ballake Sissoko - one of the most gifted ‘kora’ players in Africa. This unexpected collaboration was recorded in February 2003, less than a month after they had appeared together at the now famous Festival in the Desert. They had a track included on the best-selling CD of the event.

At this time, Einaudi was just beginning his breakthrough to a much wider UK public. His “Echoes” Best-of collection was released in the September of that year and early in 2004, he had a track featured on Buddha Bar vol.6 - a sure sign of musical ‘lifestyle chic’.

Dismissed by large sections of the classical media, his accessible, melodic minimalism - compared by some to Philip Glass and Michael Nyman - has undeniably produced music of wide appeal, and championed by Classic FM in particular, the 8 CDs he has so far issued in the UK have all achieved substantial sales. Born in 1955, Einaudi was awarded a diploma in composition at the Milan Conservatory, and continued his studies with Luciano Berio. He has also composed chamber and orchestral compositions, music for dance and the stage, and film soundtracks, as well as a variety of multimedia works. He completed a sell-out 13-date tour of the UK in Feb 2005