Percussions.org

[The Boss]

It's really very difficult to categorize the music of Soungalo Coulibaly and his group; a Malian master-drummer of international renown, justly considered one of the greatest contemporary djembe-players, Soungalo is also one of those inspired artists for whom tradition never stands still.

He is not afraid of creating music which is both innovative and aware of its ancestry, music which mixes together instruments from different traditions of his home country, and yet so clearly reminds one of the shared ancestry it has with jazz and blues.

The problem with Soungalo is not finding descriptions, but with trying to reduce him to a type, to a single genre of music. Aware of the need to define himself in some way or other, Soungalo's solution was to make up his own category: for some years now, along with his fellow musicians (and he always chooses the best accompanists), he has been creating Flez music.

Translated by Peter Batty
Skin to Skin, Dorset, UK
"Follow your bliss, and doors will open" - Joseph Campbell