In 2018, Malian singer and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara performed at the 30th edition of the Africa Festival in Würzburg, Germany, Europe’s oldest festival devoted to African music. This live capture documents a concert where the Wassoulou tradition of southern Mali meets rock, jazz and contemporary electric textures. Guitar slung over her shoulder, Diawara alternates committed songs in Bambara, hypnotic melodies and the stage flights that built her international reputation. Revealed by the album Fatou and confirmed by Fenfo, she stands as one of the leading voices of the new African scene, a collaborator of Damon Albarn, Roberto Fonseca and -M-. The filmed concert highlights her band — percussion, bass and guitars — and the intensity of a performance addressing exile, the condition of women and Malian roots. A valuable document of world music, to be discovered as a full live concert to grasp the reach of an artist who modernizes the Mandé heritage without betraying it.
Personnel & credits
- Fatoumata Diawara — vocals, guitar
