Amadou & Mariam play the second of two dates in Canada tonight at Montreal's Metropolis, after last night's set in Toronto. From there, the duo return to the States for the remainder of their North American headlining tour. On Saturday, they'll play the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, with support from Club d'Elf and Anjulie.

The Boston Herald's "Inside Track," by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, previews the show in an interview with the couple whose "tunes have recently become the rage in the States."

As Amadou tells the paper, one of their hopes is that a deeper understanding of their home to come from that wider success they've found of late. "People often think of bad things happening in Africa, but we want to bring them a new vision," he says. "In Africa, we have a lot of solidarity between people. There is a lot of natural joy. We want to express this joy through our music."

Read more at bostonherald.com.

---

After Saturday's show, Amadou & Mariam head to New York for a concert at Webster Hall and an appearance on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, both Monday night. On Tuesday, they bring the band to Philadelphia for a performance at World Café Live.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's A.D. Amorosi examines the couple's career and the many influences on the their "harmonious music" over the years, concluding that the music "finds its greatest inspiration in the wedded bliss of its principals."

Even so, says Amorosi,

Don't let their joy fool you into thinking A&M have no gritty side. Theirs is a gutsy brand of African highlife with cool, languid guitar solos and deeply hypnotic rhythms. As time has gone on, [Amadou] Bagayoko has even found himself influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Yet it's the smooth soul of Dimanche à Bamako and their silken new Welcome to Mali that have made them a smash hit with bigger audiences.

The writer goes on to discuss with Amadou the confluence of styles from around the world heard in these albums and, at the same time, the impact their home country continues to make on their songs.

Read the complete article at philly.com/inquirer.

---

The Philadelphia Daily News's Jonathan Takiff too spoke with Amadou about "the unlikely yet alluring mix" many sounds that make up their own unique sound, or as Takiff describes it, "Snaky electric guitar lines, exotic Afro-blues melodies, hip-shaking (and occasionally even hip-hop) polyrhtymic beats and haunting, dipped in melancholy vocals sung mostly in French and their native Bambara."

That interview can be found at philly.com/dailynews.

---

On Wednesday, it's off to the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, outside of DC. The Washington Post's J. Freedom du Lac spoke to Amadou in advance of that event for a closer look at the duo that makes "some of the world's most irresistibly funky music." Du Lac goes on to describe their mix of sounds, as heard on their latest Because/Nonesuch release, the "marvelous" Welcome to Mali, this way: "Traditional—and not-so-traditional—African musical ideas and instrumentation are blended with electro-pop keyboards, Memphis funk, rootsy reggae, blues-rock guitars, disco and rockabilly flourishes and, in a summit with K'Naan, American hip-hop via Sub-Saharan Africa."

The article goes on to credit producer Damon Albarn, who co-wrote and produced the album's opening track, "Sabali," with adding his own influence to Welcome to Mali's "textured, globe-trotting sound ... giving the album a decidedly sexy international sheen."

Read the article and interview at voices.washingtonpost.com.