Artist Snapshot
Idrissa Soumaoro was born in 1949 in Ouéléssébougou, a small town 75 km south of Bamako in Mali. During his school holidays in Bamako, the young rural boy discovered and was charmed by instruments such as the harmonica, the flute and the timbo. Back in the village after his holidays, he borrowed his brother-in-law's guitar and tuned it to the sound of the n'goni. Between the ages of fifteen and sixteen, Idrissa formed his first group, Djitoumou-Jazz de Ouéléssédougou.