Köte (2003)

Idrissa Soumaoro, born near Bamako in 1949, is one of the relative unknowns in Malian music. His early years in music were spent as part of les Ambassadeurs alongside Salif Keita and Kante Manfila. After his time as a performing musician, he left the music business largely to develop other courses. Studying in Cambridge, Hereford, and Birmingham, Soumaoro earned degrees in English, braille music, and special education, which he quickly put to use teaching music to blind students. He developed a new style of music called Kote, which encompasses both theater and music, usually taking the form of cultural and political satire and humor. The music itself is strongly based in traditional forms and the African blues, with a sound very similar to that of Boubacar Traoré or Ali Farka Toure. Work in the hotels led to collaboration with African producer Ibrahima Sylla (veteran of albums with Salif Keita, Baaba Maal) on his first debut album named after his signature form, released worldwide in 2003 (allmusic.com)