Amadou & Mariam, having turned up the heat during their Welcome to Mali tour opener at Chicago's Park West on Tuesday, are set to do the same at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto tonight and the Metropolis in Montreal tomorrow.

And here's a special offer for fans in the New York City area, where the duo will perform at Webster Hall on Monday: Mali's favorite couple will be appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that night as well, and the show has opened up a limited number of tickets for the afternoon taping in the seats surrounding the stage. For your chance to win seats in the show's special "Band Bench" section, visit fallonbandbench.com and include the code AMM in your entry form.

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Leading to tonight's Amadou & Mariam set in Toronto, the Globe and Mail has a feature article on the couple. Writer Li Robbins spoke with Amadou about his life and career with Mariam and, not least, about their love of Canada and the welcoming audiences they find there.

The pair have found that sort of warm reception around the world of late, and Amadou credits the range of influences in their music that wide appeal that's likely to invite. "We listened to so much different music when we were younger, rock and blues, and we've been open minded about all kind of music," he tells Robbins. "It makes our music a little bit different, but also there is also something in it for everyone to recognize. So maybe it's more universal. Maybe that is the reason so many people seem to like it."

Read the interview at theglobeandmail.com.

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The National Post's Mike Doherty spoke with both husband and wife at a recent show in London, in a preview of this week's Candian concerts. Doherty too draws attention to the myriad musical influences to which Amadou refers:

Amadou & Mariam call their music "Afro-Blues;" the term best describes the independent cassettes they recorded in the late '80s and early '90s as an unaccompanied duo, with Amadou's earthy electric guitar providing a lilting, skeletal background for their singing in French and Bambara. Since then, they've embraced an ever-increasing range of influences and instrumentation; the panoramic sound on Welcome to Mali takes in everything from all-out Afro-funk to [the album opener] Sabali's streamlined, Damon Albarn-produced electro-pop.

From that recorded sound to the live stage, the London set Doherty takes in at the Jazz Cafe gives offers a sample of what crowds can expect on the current North American tour. On stage, he writes, "the duo throw themselves into the music, letting looser than they do on their albums—Amadou unleashes sparkling licks on his gold electric guitar, and Mariam wails joyously and busts out infectious seated dance moves. The audience is rapt."

Read the complete article at nationalpost.com.