Hailed as one of the most vital figures in modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara plays from Maliba, a new album drenched in the rhythms of Wassoulou music.
The Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist has worked with some of the biggest names in contemporary music.
She recorded with Bobby Womack and Herbie Hancock; played Glastonbury and other major festivals; and toured with the Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca.
She formed a supergroup featuring Amadou & Mariam, Oumou Sangaré and Toumani Diabaté to record a song calling for peace in her homeland; and climbed aboard Damon Albarn’s star studded Africa Express, which culminated in her sharing a stage with Sir Paul McCartney.
Maliba, recorded in Fatoumata’s studio in Bamako, is a collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture platform and is a special project commemorating the historic Timbuktu manuscripts.