A major threat to musicians and their instruments - the airline industry

For musicians, an instrument is like a baby, the Guardian writes about the special bond and problems musicians face tending the instrument, especially when traveling by plane. This battle came to the fore last week when the Malian musician Ballaké Sissoko accused US border officials of breaking his “impossible to replace” kora, a harp-like west African instrument, during a security check before flying from New York to Paris. He is on tour, playing in London next month, and he could not simply walk into a store to replace a hand-crafted, custom instrument. So, Diabaté has simply stopped doing shows abroad.