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Oumou Sangaré Sets North American Tour Dates

The new tour will kick off on October 23.

Malian diva Oumou Sangaré is set for a run of upcoming shows in select North American cities in support of her critically acclaimed new album Timbuktu. The dates will take her to both coasts, hitting Vancouver, Berkeley, Princeton and New York City. See below for a list of dates.

Timbuktu is out now to high critical acclaim. The album includes single "Wassulu Don," a joyous expression of hometown pride, which was recently playlisted by BBC 6Music and features a beautiful video directed by Justyna Obasi and filmed in Ghana.

Sangaré has been busy touring throughout the year in support of the album, including a headline show at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall in June as part of Grace Jones' Meltdown Festival, and festivals including Way Out West (Sweden), Blue Dot (U.K.) and Le Guess Who (Netherlands).

Recorded in multiple locations (U.S., Mali and France) and her first new material since 2017's critically acclaimed Mogoya, Timbuktu is a stunning collection of songs-fusing her distinctive Malian sound and voice with elements of blues, folk and rock-resulting in a timeless body of work, free from borders and genres.

Sangaré is renowned worldwide for her vibrant and powerful music, which often features revolutionary messages about women's rights, tradition and poverty. Since the release of her debut album Moussoulou in 1989 there's been no respite for the Malian singer.

Notable waymarks on her rich and fruitful journey include some of the most definitive recordings in the history of contemporary African music: Ko Sira in 1993, Worotan in 1996 and Seya in 2009, the latter nominated for a Grammy Award.

Counting among her many notable fans Alicia Keys, Aya Nakamura and Beyoncé (who sampled the classic "Diaraby Nene" for her 2019 Lion King release), Sangaré has long since broken through barriers separating continents and musical styles.

Timbuktu is the latest act in this unparalleled musical epic, consecrating an artist who rose from the poor neighbourhoods of Bamako to become a world-renowned musician and a vocal activist. A bold sonic approach, fusing the dynamism of traditional Wassoulou rhythms with the language of contemporary music, Timbuktu looks set to become the most ambitious and accomplished work in an already remarkable discography.

Watch the new music video here:

North American Tour Dates

October 23-Vancouver, BC-Chan Centre October 25-Berkeley, CA-Freight & Salvage October 26-Berkeley, CA-Freight & Salvage October 28-Princeton, NJ-McCarter Theater October 29-New York, NY-Apollo Theater

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Apr 24, 2024   |  Doors 7:00 pm       ← PAST EVENT

Oumou Sangaré

Tickets: $55

Sounds by DJ Henri

Grammy Award-winning Malian singer Oumou Sangaré takes the S.O.B.’s stage on Wednesday, April 24th. Grab a bite to eat and enjoy a night of authentic Wassoulou music! Table service is available. 

Known as “The Songbird of Wassoulou,” the Malian artist and feminist icon has been making waves in African music since she began releasing music in the 1980s. Throughout her illustrious career, Sangaré has performed at the Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. Included in her global fanbase is Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, Aya Nakamura, and Beyonce (many of which she has collaborated or performed with).

Come see the global icon on April 24th! 

dj.henri has long specialized in the music of Mali, Guinea, and the Saharan Maghreb, opening for Vieux Farka Toure, Salif Keita, Fatoumata Diawara, Mdou Moctar, Tinariwen, Bombino, Sona Jobarteh, Rokia Traore, and Habib Koite.

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• April 13, 2024 Setlist

Oumou Sangaré Setlist at The Sheldon, St. Louis, MO, USA

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• Timbuktu Play Video
• Wassulu Don Play Video
• Sarama Play Video
• Degui N’Kelena Play Video
• Sira Play Video
• Diaraby Nene Play Video
• Wayeina Play Video
• Mogo Kele Play Video
• Kamelemba Play Video
• Djoukourou Play Video
• Kele Mani Play Video
• Yala Play Video

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2 activities (last edit by Bryants , 22 Apr 2024, 15:19 Etc/UTC )

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• Degui N’Kelena
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• Apr 10 2024 Freight & Salvage Berkeley, CA, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 12 2024 Englert Theatre Iowa City, IA, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 13 2024 The Sheldon This Setlist St. Louis, MO, USA Add time Add time

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Friday 26 April 2024

Oumou Sangare

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Fair Grounds Race Course, 1751 Gentilly Boulevard 70130 New Orleans, LA, US www.nojazzfest.com/

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Upcoming concerts for Oumou Sangare

• Saturday April 27, 2024 Oumou Sangare Festival International de Louisiane 2023, Lafayette
• Sunday April 28, 2024 Oumou Sangare Festival International de Louisiane 2023, Lafayette

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Oumou Sangaré

Saturday july 15, 2023 at 8:00pm — --> 8:30pm -->.

• Venetian Theater

Global superstar and Grammy Award-winner Oumou Sangaré catapults Westchester to West Africa! Renowned worldwide for her vibrant and powerful music, the Malian “songbird of Wassoulou” infuses her music with traditional African percussion, distinctive vocals, and progressive social criticism, creating a unique sound that has propelled her onto the international stage. Her return to Caramoor after 12 years will feature music that spans traditional Wassoulou music to contemporary sounds coming out of Africa, as well as songs from her recent critically acclaimed album, Timbuktu .

“Percussive, danceable, and haunting, the singer’s visionary mix is the primary reason that her voice has come to carry as much respect as Aretha Franklin’s.” — The New Yorker

Garden Listening / For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old.  Listen to the concert broadcast onto Friends Field (audio only)  while enjoying a picnic, admiring a starry sky, or relaxing with the family. We recommend you bring your own seating for Garden Listening.

Learn More About the Artist

Oumou Sangaré is widely considered to be Africa’s most dynamic female voice. Her music is ebullient and thrilling, with powerful and groundbreaking messages about women’s rights, tradition, and poverty. 

Sangaré was born in Bamako, Mali, in 1969. When she was two years old, her father took a second wife and emigrated to Côte d’Ivoire leaving Oumou’s mother, pregnant at the time, with three small children. Her mother was a singer at wedding and baptism celebrations. Oumou joined her, fired by her passion for the music and her desire to help her mother out by earning a little extra cash. By the age of 13, Oumou had become the family breadwinner. 

Oumou’s mother came from Wassoulou, the remote forest region in the south of Mali with a rich musical culture with a pentatonic flavor. The Wassoulou hunters’ music, played on the donsongoni, is believed to have magic powers. It was updated into the kamelengoni (youth’s harp) and Oumou’s vision was to bring the power and charm of this music into her own songs. In Bamako, with the help of arranger Ahmadou Ba Guindo, leader of the legendary National Badema dance band, she played with musicians including kamelengoni player ‘Benego’ Brehima Diakite who has remained Oumou’s main musical collaborator to this day. 

In 1989, aged 21, she recorded her first album Moussoulou ( Women ) with arrangements by Ahmadou Ba Guindo, and it took West Africa by storm. The messages were powerful — encouraging women to be themselves and warning against the wrongs of polygamy and forced marriage. The hit song ‘”Diaraby Nene’” (“The Thrill of Love”) was about the taboo subject of women enjoying passion. It was also remarkable for being a slightly modernized version of the traditional rural music of the enigmatic Wassoulou hunters, delivered with an urban funk-driven pulse. 

The Moussoulou cassette was given to World Circuit’s Nick Gold by Ali Farka Touré, and Gold witnessed its success during a trip to Bamako in 1991. “You couldn’t escape that music. And you didn’t want to. It was everywhere. I spent that week in Bamako hearing Oumou wherever I went.”  

World Circuit released Moussoulou internationally in 1991 and since then have released four albums from Sangaré. On Ko Sira ( Modern Marriage ), 1993, “Saa Magni” pays tribute to Ahmadou Ba Guindo, arranger and co-producer of Moussoulou , who died in a car accident in 1991. On Worotan ( 10 Kola Nuts, the price given by a groom’s parents in exchange for a bride), 1996, Oumou continued to sing about the issues close to her heart. After becoming a mother herself, she also focused on children in difficult circumstances. 

Sangaré fights fiercely against female circumcision (FGM), which is still prevalent in Mali. “I think the country has made progress regarding female circumcision [although there’s still no law in place]. And I opened the way, to a certain extent. The women of Mali and other African countries still continue the fight.” 

In 2003 World Circuit released Oumou , a 2CD retrospective of her career to date. The album features 12 tracks from her first three World Circuit albums, plus eight tracks previously unreleased on CD.  

Of Seya ( Joy ), 2009, she says, “When I sing it’s joyful but amongst that joy I always take the opportunity to slip in messages that educate my nation.” She encourages family unity, sings against forced marriage, and praises Mali’s textile makers. The song “Dons”’ is both a tribute to Alatta Brouleye, the Wassoulou musician who in the 1960s created the kamelengoni out of the donsongoni hunters’ harp (which ‘Benego’ Brehima Diakite plays on the track) and to her father, Bari Sangaré. with whom she was reconciled before his death. 

After an eight-year break from recording, Oumou returned with a more modernized sound on Mogoya (on the No Format label) in 2017. This was followed by extensive touring around the world. Acoustic , a stripped-down version of Mogoya, was released in 2020, with no amplification, retakes or overdubs. It adds two important songs from her earlier career – “Saa Magni,” her tribute to Amadou Ba Guindo, and “Diaraby Nene,” her first big hit. 

Sangare’s most recent album, Timbuktu , the first release on her own Oumsang label, was created during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and released in 2022.  The album weaves intimate sonic connections between traditional instruments from West Africa and those linked to the history of the blues, most notably the kamele n’goni and its distant heirs, the Dobro and slide guitar, played here by Pascal Danaë, who co-produced the album with Nicolas Quéré. From that particular period of lockdown, when time itself was put on hold, so to speak, and when both Sangaré the artist and Sangaré the businesswoman suddenly experienced a hitherto unknown state of isolation, far from the tumult and incessant solicitations of normal life, she pulled out the best.  

“Since 1990, I’ve never had a chance to cut myself off from the world and devote myself exclusively to music,” she says. “If you look at it that way, lockdown was an opportunity for me, because it allowed me to keep my focus on the work of composition. I think you feel it in music, but also in the lyrics which are fruit of all those moments when I was able to withdraw into myself and meditate.”  

It’s true. Never have Sangaré’s lyrics achieved such a poetic quality, such depth. Never have we seen her so inspired to deliver up her thoughts on the indecipherable mysteries of existence, the perilous situation that her country is going through right now or the general condition of the African womanhood, all proof that despite becoming so powerful, she hasn’t renounced the belief and commitment of her youth.  

Although the title of the album, Timbuktu , alludes to the political situation in Mali, a country facing total disintegration and looking deep into its own history (powerfully symbolised by that legendary trading town in the northern desert) for reasons to be hopeful, many of its songs are based on Sangaré’s own unique experience. When, in Sira ’ (literally the baobab in Bambara), she sings about the offspring of well-heeled and erudite families who, despite all their advantages, lapse into delinquency and throw away a promising future, it’s almost unconsciously to underline the contrasting and exemplary nature of her own trajectory. 

“Music is within me,” Sangaré declares. “Without it, I’m nothing, and nothing can take it away from me! I’ve put my life into this record, my whole life–this life in which I’ve known hunger, the humiliation of poverty and fear, and from which today, I draw glory.” 

To learn more about Oumou Sangaré, please visit her website ( https://oumousangareofficial.com/en/home/ ). 

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After more years than we care to count, Oumou Sangaré, the queen of Wassoulou music, returned to American stages this October. Anyone lucky enough to have caught one of these rare shows will tell you: the songbird of the south is sounding better than ever. Fronting a superb, diverse international band, speaking English surprisingly well, and showcasing songs from her 2022 album, Timbuktu , along with new arrangements of a few classics, Sangaré remains a force of nature onstage. We caught her long-delayed debut at the Apollo Theater on Oct. 29, and a free outdoor show in Providence, Rhode Island the next day, the final two shows of the tour. In both cases. Sangaré and her band delivered joy and ecstasy, delighting fans and wowing newcomers.

The Apollo show, presented by the World Music Institute, was particularly explosive, clearly a date she has been anticipating since it was postponed back in April of 2020. This show opened with a rousing set from percussionist Will Calhoun and the Mali Project. Calhoun has traveled to Mali and other African locales for years, and has performed with Sangaré in the past. The formation he staged this time included Cameroonian bassist/composer Francis Mbape, and Malian kora maestro Yacouba Sissoko along with other NYC-based luminaries of African music. The musicians traded solos and lead vocal in the manner of a collaborative jam session, and all shined. But the true fireworks came from the percussion section. Calhoun is a more than a monster drummer. His improvisations are playful, complex but always musical, utterly engaging.

Sangaré’s set began deep and slow but rapidly accelerated into muscular rocking versions of key songs from Timbuktu . Near the beginning, she took time to tell the story of her 2020 vigil in New York, waiting for a return to normality that was not in the cards. In careful, clear, if imperfect English she described her wait. “One week, two weeks, three weeks… Three months ! No, I have to do something.” What she did was to summon her longtime kamele ngoni (pentatonic gourd harp) man, Mamadou Sidibe, from California to her newly acquired house in Baltimore to set about creating the album that became Timbuktu . [For more on all that, check out our interview with Sangaré earlier this year .]

At the Apollo, Sidibe joined the band’s nimble kamele ngoni player Abou Diarra for the early part of the set and the camaraderie was palpable. This band includes musicians from Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali and France. Not only are they spectacular soloists, each given time to shine by their generous queen, but they cohere as a high precision team, rifling through tricky stop-time riffs with ease, scaling the dynamic range from whispers to roars, nailing Wassoulou music’s funky grooves with smiles to spare. Special mention to Abidjan-based guitarist Julien Pestre. The man can tear up the fretboard with rock ’n' roll bravado, just as Sangaré’s long-ago guitarist Baba Salah once did, and he has clearly spent years internalizing African guitar idioms from soukous to Afrobeat, to Bambara blues. Another nice touch was a rubber-limbed male dancer Sekou Keita , based in Switzerland, who graced the stage at regular intervals. He opened the show tied up in ropes that he struggled ostentatiously to free himself from throughout the opening number.

Also exceptional were the band’s female vocalists Emma Lamadji of Central African Republic, and Kandy Guira of Burkina Faso. We got none of the breathy coos one sometimes hears from Malian backing singers; these ladies were singing , full throated and punching. Still, for all the gusto this powerful band kicks up, Sangaré’s voice easily dominates the sound scape. Her voice is iconic by now, beloved for its range for heart-breaking vulnerability—as in a fresh arrangement of her 1989 celebration of romantic love “Diaraby Nene”—to robust protest—as in the new “Kele Magni,” an anti-war song—to exuberant celebration, notably on the feisty crowd-pleaser “Yalla,” which concluded her set in both concerts. At the Apollo, Calhoun took on the drum kit for the encore, grinning ear to ear.

It's fair to say that Sangaré pretty much blew the roof off the Apollo on Saturday night. After the show, there was a champagne toast at the bar, and Sangaré was mobbed by overjoyed fans, including an unexpected one, her longtime friend and admirer Jackson Browne.

The following afternoon, it all happened again at District Park by the Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Providence on an unseasonably warm and perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon. This show was organized by Providence-based Malian percussionist and educator Sidy Maiga, another old friend of Sangaré’s. It turns out this is the fourth time Maiga has brought Sangaré to Providence. Lucky Providence!

Maiga’s band, The Bridge Where We Meet, opened this show with a unique take on Malian folklore that included a brass section and an electric cello. The music was rich and groovy, though the surprise star turned out to be Maiga’s four-year-old son, wielding his tiny djembe and tracking his dad across the stage, out into the lawn and back.

It’s not likely Sangaré got much sleep between these two shows. She went easy on the English this time, likely saving her voice for singing. There was a touch of rasp there in the opening numbers, but as the set progressed, the magic happened once again. Malian ladies in their finery and regular folks out for a beer in the park came together under Sangaré’s irresistible spell, dancing in the grass in the afternoon glow with the Providence skyline visible behind the stage.

Both of these concerts featured a reworking of a great song from Sangaré’s second album, Ko Sira . The new version, “Kamelemba,” from her 2017 album Mogoya , is a standout with a super funky kamele ngoni -driven groove and unforgettable vocal refrains. In the Providence show, the band stretched out on this one, bringing Maiga and his little son on stage for dancing and djembefola (drum play).

As the sun set in Providence, the show and the tour were a wrap. Sangaré cannot return to our shores soon enough. Hopefully her “vacation home” in Baltimore will occasion more shows soon. Meanwhile, here are a few images from the Apollo and Providence.

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Oumou Sangaré

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Genre: Concert

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Presented by World Music Institute in Association with The Apollo

World Music Institute in association with The Apollo present Malian musician and GRAMMY Award winner Oumou Sangaré for an incredible one-night-only performance. One of West Africa’s most celebrated vocalists, Sangaré infuses her music with traditional African percussion, distinctive vocals, and progressive social criticism, creating a unique sound that has propelled her onto the international stage.

In her Apollo debut, Sangaré, “The Songbird of Wassoulou,” will perform music that spans traditional Wassoulou music to contemporary sounds coming out of Africa as well as songs from her recent critically acclaimed album,  Timbuktu .

As an activist, businesswoman and global icon, Oumou Sangaré is considered an ambassador of Wassoulou; her music has been inspired by the music and traditional dances of the region. She writes and composes her songs, which often include social criticism, especially concerning women’s low status in society.

Drawing comparisons to legendary performers such as Grace Jones, Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin, Sangaré has been praised by stars including Beyoncé and Alicia Keys for her powerful voice and unwavering commitment to the betterment of women.

This concert is presented as part of Apollo’s Fall 2022 Season as well as WMI’s WOMEN’S VOICES series celebrating the role that female artists play in the preservation and promotion of their respective cultures and traditions.

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Oumou Sangaré

Friday, october 28, 2022 at 8:00pm, venue matthews theater.

Since the release of her debut album Moussoulou in 1989, there’s been no respite for the Malian singer Oumou Sangaré. Notable waymarks on her rich and fruitful journey include some of the most definitive recordings in the history of contemporary African music, all released on the World Circuit label: Ko Sira i n 1993, Worotan in 1996 and Seya in 2009, the latter nominated for a Grammy in the Best World Music Album category. Numerous international tours and performances on prestigious stages such as the Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan complete this roll of honour.

Timbuktu , the first release on her own Oumsang label, is the latest act in this unparalleled musical epic, one that World Circuit has become associated with once again. It consecrates this artist who rose up from the poor neighborhoods of Bamako to become a global superstar and universally admired feminist icon. With the powerful aura of a Grace Jones, black transgressive icon par excellence, Oumou has long since broken through the barriers that separate continents and musical styles. She was once invited by Alicia Keys to sing a duet on TV, and today, she gets held up as an example by artists as hefty as Aya Nakamura, who dedicated the song ‘Oumou Sangaré’ to her in 2017, or Beyoncé, who sampled one of Oumou’s most famous creations, ‘Diaraby Néné’, for her song ‘Mood 4 Eva’, which was included in the soundtrack of the film The Lion King: The Gift in 2019.

Join us for an intimate conversation with Malian GRAMMY Award-winner musician Oumou Sangaré before the show!

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022 at 12:30PM

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Oumou Sangaré

Thursday march 28 @ 5:00 pm - 6:15 pm, north garden assembly room at ships of the sea maritime museum.

Additional Showtimes: 8 pm, Thursday, March 28

Referred to as the “songbird of Wassolou,” Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré is known worldwide for her vibrant and powerful music. A Grammy Award winner, Sangaré’s sound spans traditional to contemporary, with distinctive vocals that have propelled her onto the international stage. Don’t miss this Savannah Music Festival debut on opening night!

“Percussive, danceable, and haunting, the singer’s visionary mix is the primary reason that her voice has come to carry as much respect as Aretha Franklin’s.” The New Yorker

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Sunday, April 14, 2024  ·  7:00 PM CDT

Oumou Sangaré

4544 N Lincoln Ave · Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall · 773.728.6000

Global superstar and Grammy Award-winner from Bamako, Mali, Oumou Sangaré will take the Old Town School on a musical trip to West Africa. Renowned worldwide for her vibrant and powerful music, the Malian “songbird of Wassoulou” infuses her music with traditional African percussion, distinctive vocals, and progressive social criticism, creating a unique sound that has propelled her onto the international stage. Her dynamic performance will feature music that spans traditional Wassoulou music to contemporary sounds coming out of Africa, as well as songs from her recent critically acclaimed album, Timbuktu.

Oumou Sangaré is widely considered to be Africa's most dynamic female voice. Her music is ebullient and thrilling, with powerful and groundbreaking messages about women's rights, tradition and poverty. “Percussive, danceable, and haunting, the singer's visionary mix is the primary reason that her voice has come to carry as much respect as Aretha Franklin's.” - The New Yorker

https://worldcircuit.co.uk/artists/oumou-sangare/

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Oumou Sangaré

Event begins at 7pm. doors open 6pm..

"Sangaré's irresistible voice enhances her music's power to disarm critics and make defenders of outmoded traditions think twice." NPR

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

This concert was originally schedued for October 23, 2022 and has now been re-scheduled for April 7, 2024.

If you are a ticketholder for the original October 23 date and would like to attend the new April 7 date, no further action is required. Your ticket will remain valid for the new date.

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Hailed as “one of the great queens of Malian music” by Rolling Stone , charismatic Grammy and UNESCO Award-winning vocalist Oumou Sangaré debuted 30 years ago with the bold, empowering album Moussolou (“Women”). Women’s rights remain a key focus of her work, both in song and on the ground in her native Mali, where she campaigns fearlessly against an oppressive patriarchal system. Though often touching on difficult themes—both politically and emotionally—her music remains defiantly uplifting, full of buoyant West African grooves, hypnotic melodicism, and Sangaré’s joyful, soulful voice.

Over her acclaimed career, she’s worked with pioneering Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, sang on Herbie Hancock’s Imagine project, released eleven solo albums, and been cited as an inspiration by the likes of Alicia Keys, Aya Nakamura, and Beyoncé.

When the global pandemic hit in early 2020, Sangaré was forced to remain in the US far longer than the short trip she had originally planned. But this unexpected period of seclusion inspired Timbuktu, the most deeply poetic and sonically ambitious statement of Sangaré’s career. “A euphoric piece of music,” ( The  New York Times ) the album connects instruments like the kamele n’goni to its distant heirs, the Dobro and slide guitar, interweaving the diasporic traditions of blues and rock with the sounds of West Africa.

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Programmed by Jarrett Martineau, Chan Centre Curator-in-Residence

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Oumou Sangaré: Timbuktu review – sweet and tender sorrows

(Oumsang/World Circuit) This subtle, highly accessible album finds the Malian superstar lamenting the political turbulence of her homeland from afar

O ne of the most compelling aspects of Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré ’s music has been the interplay of her hard-hitting subjects – forced marriage , war – and her sinuous, easygoing tunes. Her authoritative voice is often offset by an all-female chorus, supplying the solidarity her songs invoke. But Sangaré’s range encompasses tenderness and suffering too, rarely more so than on this hugely accessible record that reaches across borders in subtle but inveigling ways. West Africa birthed the lope of the blues – see Sarama , a song discouraging jealousy – but there are resonances here, too, of many different folk-fingerpicking techniques, and lush effects applied to the guitars, koras and kamele ngoni.

Timbuktu , Sangaré’s ninth outing, is named after the legendary city, one sacked by Islamist insurgents a decade ago, and stands in for the political problems ongoing across west Africa. And although this album was written at her new house in Baltimore, when Sangaré got stuck there during lockdown, many of these tracks look to her home region of Wassoulou, whose sung heritage and stringed instruments she has turned into an international world music phenomenon. This activist and businesswoman flexes hard for her community’s progress on Wassulu Don, but on Demissimw, a lonesome ballad about children affected by war, her sorrow is front and centre.

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Everything to know for Festival International: Wristbands, app, lineups, shuttles and more.

It's Festival International week, a five-day continuous celebration of music, art, food and culture.

Downtown Lafayette comes alive every year for the festival, and this year is no different with the new and enhanced wristband system, the official 2024 mobile app, shuttle schedules, live streaming to anywhere in the world and the headliner acts. Here is all you need to know about Festival International 2024.

The mobile app is the official electronic guide and one-stop shop for all things Festival International. It is sponsored by Home Bank. 

The app features the full music lineup, a special events schedule, the user's RFID wristband account, site maps, food and art vendors, artist information, maps, weather updates and more. For those who can't attend the festival, live streaming is available on the app from anywhere in the world. The 2024 Festival Mobile App is available for download on Android and iPhones.

Patrons will use RFID wristbands, which are free thanks to First Horizon, to link up to their credit or debit cards and will only be charged for what they purchase. The wristband can be used at all beverage stops, Festival merchandise booths and at food vendor locations. 

"New to the wristband technology this year is NFC registration capabilities." said Carly Courville, Festival International marketing coordinator. "Simply tap the wristband on the back of your iPhone or Android to register completely on your phone. We are proud of our app and wristband making Festival a breeze."

Wristbands can be picked up at Parish Ink Downtown.

Patrons still can pay with cash if they choose. Look for the “cash” signs at Scène Laborde Earles Fais Do Do and Pavillon de Cuisine booths.

Parking downtown gets difficult during Festival. A Festival shuttle runs from the UL Lafayette Health Science Campus Parking Garages at 601 W. St. Mary Blvd. and 411 St. Landry St. to downtown Lafayette.

Service every 15 minutes with a $15 per car entry. Credit and debits cards are accepted only, no cash. Check out the shuttle schedule at festivalinternational.org/shuttle .

The 38th annual Festival International lineup not only features notable artists but also talent from around the world. The lineup features Grammy Award winner Oumou Sangaré of Mali, an internationally acclaimed singer. Five Alarm Funk will perform as one of Saturday night’s closing acts. Nomadic Massive will close out the festival on Sunday.

French speaking acts scheduled include La Famille LeBlanc (New Brunswick), Pierre Donoré (France), plus some local Francophone acts, including Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs and Corey Ledet Zydeco. The Imagination Movers will take over Scène Laborde Earles Law Firm Fais Do Do on Friday for a Family Power Hour Show, according to a news release. The Movers are celebrating 20-plus years of entertaining families.

Click here  to see the full lineup and experience sounds from across the globe

Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré opens Savannah Music Festival at Ships of the Sea Museum

I t's almost impossible to talk about world music with it not resembling poetry. Sounds become similes of our emotional experience. T.S. Eliot once said that poetry is “felt before it is understood,” and that is how I approach musicians like Oumou Sangaré, who hails from Mali in West Africa. I must surrender my sense of inquiry and allow myself to be transported to a different system. A different way of listening. That, for me, is where I find the riches.

For most of us attending Sangaré’s performance March 28 at the North Garden Assembly Room at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, it will be a sonic experience. Likely few of us will understand the Wassoulou language in which she sings, but like much of the World Music that draws us to these performances, we have been moved specifically by a sense of curiosity in the instrumentation and unique scales that the world has to offer beyond the tonal systems we are accustomed to.

Sangaré’s most recent album, 2022's Timbuktu , starts with what seems like a Chicago-style blues riff and then erupts into a gritty, sultry anthem. The classic, hypnotic cyclical structure is there, but the vocals are searing and urgent.

The video for the song is a delight featuring an entire chorus of women dancing traditionally in different contexts, assuming dominant poses on motorcycles, playing electric guitars in living rooms, and splashing on the ocean shore. It is an entirely matriarchal celebration of the Wassulu Don (people). The song itself asserts how the Wassulu have elevated the status of their traditional n’goni (a stringed instrument that has been around since the 13th century) and have transcended stereotypes because “Wassulu” is now a shelter for peace, development, and investment in education, health, and commerce. Admittedly, I don’t understand the original Bambara lyrics, but thankfully they are translated for context in the liner notes. I don’t know how necessary it is for the novice listener to understand the levity of the messages in the songs on Timbuktu , but undoubtedly Sangaré, as most world artists often have to do, will be an ambassador of her music and culture and will provide us with a cultural framework for what we are feeling.

“Sabou Dogoné,” for example, is uniquely dirge-like in its call and response layered with distant siren-like instrumentation. It’s wounding. I feel like I know exactly what is happening, and I have no knowledge of the lyrics.

By chance, 10 of the eleven songs on Timbuktu were written in the United States. She found herself inadvertently locked down in New York and then Baltimore during the pandemic. It was the first time in her career that she was able to “focus solely on the work of composition.”  She embraced the seclusion and the American ancestors of the n’goni, the dobro and slide guitar, which give many of the tracks of Timbuktu a uniquely western flavor, paradoxically rooted in the African experience.

The cyclical rhythms on the new album are primal, urgent and meditative. There is an unrelenting cadence that keeps the listener engaged. Indeed, these rhythms derived from the brotherhood of Wassoulou hunters known as Donsow. The rhythm is a baptismal bedrock that carries through all the music, manifesting itself most notably in what would become the kamele n’goni (young person’s harp), which is unique to the Wassoulou region since the '50s and has served to elevate the music of the region. These structures have been the framework for Sangare’s birdsong since 1989 when her first album came out.

Context isn’t everything in the world of music, but it can surely nourish our experience with the melody and lyricism. Sangaré embodies this notion. Sonically, her music is an incantation. Something is being conjured and we are part of the ceremony.

While the genre’s name unfairly dilutes the cultural value of each region represented, World Music musicians have no choice but to be ambassadors of their history and culture. Sangaré embraces this. To say she is a Black feminist icon is understatement. Her biography is readily available in several places, and it is absolutely astounding and highly recommended to read ahead of her performance in Savannah as part of the 35th year of the Savannah Music Festival. She has been an advocate for women since before she could sing and has since promoted peace, justice, entrepreneurship, and cultural integrity for women around the world. But again, after feeling the music, I don’t think much of it will come as a surprise, rather it will just validate the power of her musical conjuring.

If You Go >>

What: Oumou Sangaré

When: 5 to 6:15 p.m.

Where: North Garden Assembly Room at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum , 41 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd

Tickets: $42

Info: savannahmusicfestival.org/event/oumou-sangare/

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré opens Savannah Music Festival at Ships of the Sea Museum

Oumou Sangare

Oumou Sangaré is an internationally renowned and award-winning singer, composer, business pioneer, and activist who champions women's rights in her more...

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