3MA is a contemporary African music group, consisting of three players of different string instruments: Ballaké Sissoko from Mali on kora, Driss El Maloumi from Morocco on oud and Rajery from Madagascar on valiha.
The idea for an innovative African group of exclusively string instruments, with no percussion or rhythm section, was born during a first meeting in 2006 in Agadir, between Moroccan oud player and composer Driss El Maloumi and Rajery, a Madagascan musician using an 18-stringed tubular zither called valiha.
A few months later, they met in Madagascar, and Ballaké Sissoko, a leading kora player, joined them for a series of workshops and concerts, sponsored by the local French Institute.
[2] In an interview with nonprofit media organization NPR, Sissoko said: "I created the chromatic kora with two and half octaves for this project, to dialogue better with other instruments.
They were invited to join their compositions, relating to the history of the slave trade from Africa, by the artistic director of this recording for audio and video, Jordi Savall, with whom Driss El Maloumi has played the oud on numerous albums.