Jimmy Hyacinthe

N'goran Hyacinthe was born in Abidjan's Treichville district in 1947. Renamed Jimmy Hyacinthe for his musical project, linked to an admiration for the singer Jimi Hendrix, the young Ivorian learned to play guitar, then joined an orchestra, Aboliba Jazz. He went on to become a professional musician and joined M'bam Jazz, a group with which he travelled all over Africa playing live on stage. He met Anoman Brouh Félix, a star Ivorian musician from the 1960s onwards, who became his mentor and helped Jimmy Hyacinthe get started. More technically mature, Hyacinthe formed Les Vautours, followed by Les Guinahouroux in 1971, bands in which he became more prominent. The guitarist moved to France and joined the Afro-Caribbean group Bozambo, whose members included Georges Ouédraogo (drums), Rato Venance (keyboards), Alain Benjamin (bass) and Adel Dabo (bass and guitar). He took advantage of this experience to write his first compositions, notably "Maquis lôh" and "Néké néké", and unveiled his first album after the group split up in 1978. Jimmy Hyacinthe, released in 1989, was a great success, with hit songs such as "Yatchiminou". Inspired by traditional Goly music, Afro-beat, soul and disco, Jimmy Hyacinthe popularized his distinctive approach to music, before gradually becoming more discreet from the 1980s onwards. The singer died a few years later, on March 19, 1991 in Abidjan.

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