Malian singer Khaira Arby and her band will appear for free tonight at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage as part of their first U.S. tour, which coincides with the release of Arby's first North American album, Timbuktu Tarab, on the Clermont Music label. Arby sings in a brash, raw-edged voice in Sonrai, Arabic, and Tamashek [...]

Malian songs have caught the ears of a variety of Western musicians in recent years, from Robert Plant to the outsider Sublime Frequencies label to  the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone, and American banjoist Bela Fleck.  Fleck made a movie about his trip to Mali called Throw Down Your Heart.  Tonight a similar [...]

Nearly 3 years ago Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure’s debut release appeared.  It came out shortly after the death of his legendary guitar-playing father, Ali Farka Toure, known for his distinctive Malian Islamic roots in the desert meets John Lee Hooker style.  His father, before passing away from cancer, recorded four tracks with his son. [...]

Rokia Traore may sometimes strum an acoustic guitar and trill softly, but she is no folkie. Traore, a Malian singer/songwriter, will be atBarns of Wolf Trap Thursday night in support of her latest cd Tchamantche. A diplomat’s daughter who has lived in the Middle East and elsewhere, Traore mixes traditional Malian styles with subtle [...]