This was an exquisite, gently adventurous evening of west African/European fusion from two musicians who looked at first as if they had little in common. Perched on a stool on the left of the stage, dressed in long blue robes, was Ballaké Sissoko, the veteran griot and exponent of the kora, who is revered in Mali almost as much as his friend Toumani Diabaté, with whom he recorded the classic New Ancient Strings. Next to him, clutching a cello, was Vincent Ségal, a classically trained French musician who plays with the trip-hop/dub band Bumcello, and who has worked with a wide variety of artists, from Elvis Costello to Cesária Évora.

Sissoko and Ségal have recorded two albums together in Mali, where, as Ségal explained, they often play together in the dark, in the early hours of the morning. They have developed, in the process, a remarkable, intuitive style in which they mix improvisation with the skill of constantly switching between lead and rhythm or backing work on each instrument. They started with Chamber Music, the title track of their first album, which began with a delicate kora solo before Ségal added plucked cello, then led on bowed cello as the kora eased off to provide rippling backing lines.

So it continued, with instrumental pieces of increasing delicacy and complexity. There were no vocals, as on the albums, but there were some surprises. Ségal demonstrated his skills at west African percussion, and the duo included one unlikely new piece, a glorious, freewheeling treatment of Asa Branca, a classic song from north-east Brazil by the great accordion-player Luiz Gonzaga. The final pieces included Ségal’s Oscarine, which involved hypnotic riffs from both kora and cello. By now the audience were yelling their appreciation.

Earlier, there was a brief set from the young Japanese pianist and composer Koki Nakano, who earlier this year released an album with Ségal. Mysteriously, he mostly played solo, concentrating on unrecorded material, and was at his best when finally joined by Ségal for the slinky and driving Introduction 1.