Fatoumata Diawara, whose debut album, Fatou, was released in North America last summer on World Circuit / Nonesuch Records, has announced a month-long tour of the United States starting with an Afropop Spectacular with Zimbabwe's Oliver Mtukudzi at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, on March 30. The 12-city tour includes a two-night run in Seattle, shows in Chicago, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, El Paso, New Orleans, and sets at the Houston and Louisiana International Festivals. See below for all of Diawara's currently scheduled tour dates; for additional details and ticket links, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Diawara has become an outspoken advocate for peace in her home country of Mali. In response to the jihadist attacks in the country, she gathered together over 40 of Mali’s most renowned musicians in a Bamako studio to record a song and video calling for peace. Known collectively as Voices United for Mali, the group—which includes Amadou & Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Toumani Diabate, Afel Bocoum, Bassekou Kouyate, among many others—recorded the song "Mali-ko (Peace / La Paix)" and released a video of the song. You can watch the video and read the song's original French lyrics and their English translation here, and read and watch some of what Diawara has to say about it in the New York Times, Newsweek, NPR, the CBC, CNN, and the BBC.

Stay tuned for news of the song's release coming soon.

FATOUMATA DIAWARA ON TOUR