Rokia Traoré, Toumani Diabaté, and Amadou & Mariam have all been nominated for the inaugural Songlines Music Awards, recognizing outstanding talent in world music. Diabaté and Traoré are each nominated for Best Artist, Amadou & Mariam for Best Group. Winners will be chosen by the Songlines editorial team and announced in May. The WOMAD festival, the Awards' co-presenter, will host a live event with a selection of the nominees at WOMAD Charlton Park in July, where Traoré and label mate Oumou Sangare are scheduled to perform.
Rokia Traoré, Toumani Diabaté, and Amadou & Mariam have all been nominated for the inaugural Songlines Music Awards, recognizing outstanding talent in world music. Diabaté and Traoré are each nominated for Best Artist, and Amadou & Mariam for Best Group. The nominations are based on Songlines magazine editorial and readers' votes; winners will be chosen by the Songlines editorial team and announced in the magazine's June issue, on sale May 1.
The WOMAD festival, the Awards' co-presenter, will host a live event with a selection of the nominees at this summer's WOMAD Charlton Park in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, UK, July 24-26. Traoré is already scheduled to perform at the festival, as is label mate and fellow Malian Oumou Sangare.
Traoré's recent performance at WOMAD New Zealand, where her new album, Tchamantché, is available on lateralnote, was described as "the most inspiring I have ever seen ... an incredible start to a great WOMAD weekend," by Auckland Live Music's Charlette Weston. "The sheer energy and power of the Malian singer’s voice is transcendent. I have seen hundreds of gigs from folk clubs to festivals to stadiums and I have to rate Rokia as among the best, if not THE best I have seen. I don’t say that lightly. I was completely blown away."
Read the full review at aucklandlivemusic.com.
For more information on the Songlines Music Awards, visit songlines.co.uk. For more on the WOMAD festival, visit womad.org.
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