A master of the N'goni, Abou Diarra stands as a living bridge between the traditional melodies of West Africa and the modern worlds of jazz and blues. Pushing the boundaries of the ancient kamelé n'goni (often mistaken for the kora), Abou was trained by a blind virtuoso from his ancestral Mandinga hunter culture. For months, he travelled the routes between Abidjan, Bamako, and Conakry accompanied only by his instrument, to which he added strings to extend the classical scales.