I was listening to Fresh Air today on NPR and at the end of the show there was a music review of Toumani Diabate, Ancient 'Variations'. He is a musician who plays a kora, a 21-stringed West African harp. The sound is quite exotic - there were tinges in the sound of flamenco and Eastern, depending how he played the notes, and I wonder if Loreena has ever heard of this instrument before, especially working at Real World? To my knowledge her albums have only dabbled in Africa as far as Morocco, and I don't think there are any celtic threads in the Mali area of Africa, but it is always interesting to expand musical horizons. And the sound is so interesting, I could easily see it being used in her arrangements.

I've copied and pasted the bit on the NPR/Fresh Air website. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88135850

Fresh Air's world-music critic reviews The Mande Variations, a new CD from Malian performer Toumani Diabate.

Diabate, who says he descends from 71 generations of griots, or traditional song-storytellers, plays the kora, a 21-stringed West African harp. His debut album (1988's Kaira) and his two decades of work with a range of collaborators (including his own experimental outfit, the Symmetric Orchestra) has made him synonymous with the instrument — but The Mande Variations, named after the Mande empire of 13th-century Mali, is only his second solo disc.

Also, I found this website that describes the instrument more in-depth, including how it is played.

http://www.coraconnection.com/pages/WhatisKora.html

Learn something new every day.

Angie

Two and a half millenia ago, the Celts struck terror through Europe. They invaded Greece. They sacked Rome. They spread, unstoppably, across the continent until they reached the shores of an apppearently endless sea.
Behind and after them, the march of other peoples obliterated much of the Celtic presence. Only in the far West do their languages, legends and myths remain, kept against all opposing forces in a continuous and often precariously maintained tradition. For centuries it was a culture under constant threat. But the Celts in the end reclaimed the world. The Irish, Welsh and Scottish emmigrations of the nineteenth century spread the Celtic -speaking peoples, and their inherited culture, across the whole globe. Even England, its Celtic tribes conquered by Anglo-Saxons and Normans, remains a country with a strong Celtic element and rich Celtic remains. When I think of the Celts I think of Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavian countries, and the Vikings. I think they all kind of ended up together in the end.
For me its interesting to hear that Loreena may be doing some research in the Scandinavian traditions and legends and perhaps ties with Ireland and Scotland. I'm sure what ever she comes up with will be a master piece. I also wonder if the music will change from its eastern influence.