In Dream Mandé-Djata, the critically-praised Traoré performs the epic poem Sundiata Keïta from Mali of the thirteenth century accompanied by two musicians: Mamadyba Camara on kora and Mamah Diabaté on ngoni. Rokia Traoré’s captivating voice and powerful story-telling lift the performance to a completely magical experience.

In Mali, music has traditionally been the exclusive domain of a few families. Although not a member of any of them,  Rokia Traoré has studied griot, the West African song and story-telling tradition, for many years. Parallel with these studies, rather frowned upon by locals, she learned to play the western guitar, far less emotionally challenging in her home environment. For more than twenty years she has now been navigating between acoustic folk music, Tuareg blues, jazz and pop. She often uses the traditional instruments of Mali in modern western styles to the horror of some and the delight of others.

Performed in English