US Customs destroys the instrument of renowned Mali musician Ballak Sissoko

This is so heartbreaking. Ballak Sissoko, the highly-acclaimed African musician from Mali, claims that US Customs officials destroyed his custom-made, irreplaceable kora instrument. He arrived back in Paris after a US tour to find his beloved instrument in pieces, with one of those all-too-familiar TSA notices in the case.

Here is a 2011 performance of Ballak (with Vincent Segal) on All Songs Considered.

Image: Post on Ballak Sissoko's Facebook page. Read the rest