Habib Koité

Mali's produced more than its share of great musicians, but in Habib Koité it has someone who might be able to achieve the kind of crossover that seems to have evaded African performers since the 1980s. With his third album, Baro, he has everything in place - a lulling voice, strong songwriting skills that use Western harmonies and chord changes, guitar chops to die for, and a band that's rooted in tradition while still able to move beyond it.

"I think each musician has experience in the band, because we've played together for 12 years, and all the CDs have been made with those musicians," Koité explained. "We've toured together many times, and they're used to playing in the studio. And it's the songs too."

"I don't play real traditional songs, but I take that as a base and create from it."

The songs are very definitely the thing, instantly memorable and hummable. And among them is a Latin-tinged remake of "Cigarette Abana," ("The Cigarette Is Finished") which appeared on his first album - to be reissued in the U.S. later this year - and gave him his first pan-African hit. Koité reworked it, he said, because "the U.S. in a non-smoking country. This album comes out in the U.S., so I can do it in English and Spanish, with the Spanish rhythm for Cuban musicians who play everywhere. I'd thought about calling in some Latino musicians to make something real, but it's very expensive to invite musicians, so I listened to a lot of Latin CDs, and did it with my own band."

Koité is also an accomplished instrumentalist, who can execute dizzying runs on his guitar, using different tunings to make it imitate the rippling sound of the kora, or the harsher pluck of the kamele n'goni. But for someone whose background includes four years of classical guitar lessons and more than a decade as a guitar instructor at the National Institute of Art in Bamako, it's not surprise.

"By myself I learned some traditional songs, which I taught to students, and I experimented with transposing kamele n'goni and kora on my guitar. On the new CD you can hear the guitar, but the movement of the notes is like the kora."

The long tradition of Malian music is a starting point for him. With a band that includes the xylophone-like balofon, kamele n'goni, and percussion, the roots run deep. But, he acknowledged, "I wanted to make something new. At the beginning I tried to play the different kinds of traditional music from Mali, the rhythms and the melodies. But I made a jump. I don't play real traditional songs, but I take that as a base and create from it. But I played in clubs for 16 years, many kinds of music - jazz, rock, Latino, folk-rock, pop - and I use all that experience when I create. But I respect the rhythm and the scale of traditional songs. I hope young people in Mali like it, and that I can be a role model for them. Even if they don't follow my way, it might give them ideas, but seeing they can use the tradition and take it with them."

It doesn't hurt that he has some famous fans pushing his cause in America. Both Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne are ardent supporters.

"I think they've helped me," admitted Koité. "They've visited Mali, and when I toured American with Oumou Sangaré, they came everywhere with us, and introduced me on stage. They're very friendly. Bonnie said she wanted to drink my sweat! She's very funny."

Along with artists like Rokia Traoré, Koité seems to represent a new generation in Mali, with respect for the past, but a wider worldview.

"That's not something new," he asserted, "although there might be a new way. I got to work in the tradition and look outside. But the way is different for every musician."

Habib Koité

"I don't play real traditional songs, but I take that as a base and create from it."

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