Music

Rokia Traoré has been named “one of Mali’s most revered voices” by NPR. Traoré recently released her second, critically acclaimed Nonesuch recording, Beautiful Africa, produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse), a follow-up to 2009’s Tchamantché. Traoré’s music draws on her homeland’s traditions as well as the European and American rock and pop she has listened to throughout her life. She collaborated with Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison and acclaimed director Peter Sellars on the theater piece Desdemona, which was staged at Lincoln Center and the Barbican. In 2012, Traoré joined Damon Albarn’s UK tour, “Africa Express,” featuring John Paul Jones, Amadou Bagayoko, Baaba Maal, and Paul McCartney.