Mamadou Kelly

MAMADOU KELLY, born in 1969 near Timbuktu Northern Mali, began working on local farms as a young teenager but was drawn to music. By age 15 Kelly had ventured to Niafunké to learn from the famed Ali Farka Touré. In 1986 he had begun to perform with Touré and at the age of 18 had made his first trip outside of Mali to perform.