Rokia Traoré concludes her UK tour in Coventry tonight. The tour began ten days ago at Koko in London, a performance to which The Guardian, The Independent, and the Evening Standard all give four stars. The Guardian calls it "an exhilarating performance." The Independent says Traoré was "a captivating performer" throughout. The Evening Standard says, "when she rocked, she really rocked."
Rokia Traoré concludes her UK tour with opener Sweet Billy Pilgrim at the Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry tonight. The tour began ten days ago at Koko in London, a performance to which The Guardian, The Independent, and the Evening Standard all give four stars.
The guitar sound that was weaved throughout Traoré's latest Nonesuch release, Tchamantché, "dominated this sophisticated, high-energy set," reports The Guardian's Robin Denselow. "This was music that matched echoes of funk with rapid-fire scat vocals or passages of breathy balladry, but still sounded distinctively African ... It was an exhilarating performance." Read the complete concert review at guardian.co.uk.
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"From start to finish, the 36-year-old Traoré is a captivating performer," says The Independent's Elisa Bray, beginning with "a striking opener," the Tchamantché track "Dianfa," which features "Traoré's mellow undulating voice raw and ominous against delicate folk and blues finger-picked guitar." Read that review at independent.co.uk.
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The Evening Standard's Jane Cornwell says the set included both "sultry, sparse numbers that showcased her sweet and increasingly powerful voice," and a number of tunes on which she and the band could truly rock out. And, says Cornwell, "when she rocked, she really rocked." Read more at thisislondon.co.uk.
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While Traoré hopes to devote more of her time to Fondation Passerelle, Bamako-based music education project, as she told the Times of London, she does have a few additional live performances scheduled for later this summer, including the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam July 10 and the Cambridge Folk Festival August 1. For more information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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