Lionel Loueke

Lionel Loueke is a guitarist and vocalist born in Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art. Loueke grew up in what he has described as a family of poor intellectuals in the West African country of Benin. He began playing percussion instruments at around the age of 9 but was influenced by an older brother who played guitar, which he began playing himself when he was seventeen. He listened to jazz guitarists like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, and Wes Montgomery.