Idrissa Soumaoro

Idrissa Soumaoro, born near Bamako in 1949, is one of the relative unknowns in Malian music, taking part in a number of important developments, but letting others take the spotlight in general. Soumaoro 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 in many respects to that of Boubacar Traoré or Ali Farka Touré.