Khaira Arby and her band returning to North America, playing some shows w/ Delicate Steve (summer 2011 dates)
Khaira at Joe’s Pub in 2010 (via myspace)
Malian singer Khaira Arby and her band are taking their live show on a North American tour this July. The last time she was in NYC was when she played The Bell House in March. NY Times spoke pretty highly of the show:
Regal in a blue-and-gold robe, with a golden tiara headdress, one of Africa’s greatest singers performed on Saturday night at the Bell House in Brooklyn. The Malian singer Khaira Arby, from Timbuktu, has long been recognized at home, where Ali Farka Touré was a mentor; she was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mali in 2006. Her 2010 album, “Timbuktu Tarab” (Clermont Music), was one of the decade’s best African albums, and onstage her music was even more electrifying.
Ms. Arby sings what world-music marketers have misleadingly tagged “desert blues” for the spiky riffs (now played on electric guitar) and pentatonic melodies that found their way from West Africa to Delta blues. But she and her band reach much further. To underline sentiments about Malian unity, she sings in multiple languages — Songhai, Arabic, Tamashek — while her band draws on rhythms from various regions of Mali, fusing them with funk, psychedelia and reggae as well as electric blues.
Check out a video from the March show below.
The July tour hits NYC twice; July 6 at Brooklyn Bowl with Highlife and July 7 at Le Poisson Rouge with The Mast. Tickets are on sale for the Brooklyn Bowl show, though note it is FREE BEFORE 7PM. Tickets are on sale for the Le Poisson Rouge show too.
Her tour includes dates with Delicate Steve who also has other shows coming up too. He/they plays a PS1 Warm Up event on Saturday (7/2) and a free Prospect Park show with Ra Ra Riot and Buke and Gass on August 5.
All tour dates and video below…
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Khaira Arby at The Bell House in March
Khaira Arby and her Band — 2011 Tour Dates
Mon 07/04/11 Festival International De Jazz Montreal PQ
Tue 07/05/11 Oberon Cambridge MA Group Doueh
Wed 07/06/11 Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn NY w/Highlife
Thu 07/07/11 LPR New York NY TBD, The Mast
Fri 07/08/11 Johnny Brendas Philadelphia PA
Sat 07/09/11 Red Palace Washington DC
Sun 07/10/11 Thunderbird Cafe Pittsburgh PA Legs Like Tree Trunks
Tue 07/12/11 Empty Bottle Chicago IL Delicate Steve, Manet G. (DJ)
Wed 07/13/11 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis MN w/ Delicate Steve
Fri 07/15/11 California WorldFest Grass Valley CA
Sat 07/16/11 The Grand Ballroom @ Regency Center San Francisco CA w/ Seun Kuti, Lagos Roots Afrobeat Ensemble
Sun 07/17/11 Levitt Pavilion Pasadena CA
Tue 07/19/11 Casbah San Diego CA
Wed 07/20/11 Echo Los Angeles CA Dub Club
Thu 07/21/11 Saint Rocke Hermosa Beach CA
Fri 07/22/11 Club Congress Tucson AZ
Sat 07/23/11 The Due Return at CCA Santa Fe NM
Sun 07/24/11 Underground Music Showcase Denver CO
Wed 07/27/11 Armstrong Quad Colorado Springs CO
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Delicate Steve — 2011 Tour Dates
Sat 07/02/11 MoMA PS1 Long Island City NY WarmUp Music Series, DJ Pierre
Tue 07/05/11 The National Richmond VA Cut Copy
Wed 07/06/11 Rams Head Live! Baltimore MD Cut Copy
Thu 07/07/11 Musica Akron OH
Fri 07/08/11 MOTR Pub Cincinnati OH
Sat 07/09/11 Royal Oak Music Hall Royal Oak MI w / Cut Copy
Mon 07/11/11 Jay Pritzker Pavilion Chicago IL w/ Bombino
Tue 07/12/11 Empty Bottle Chicago IL w/ Khaira Arby, Manet G. (DJ)
Wed 07/13/11 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis MN w/ Khaira Arby
Thu 07/14/11 Mad Planet Milwaukee WI
Fri 07/15/11 Gabe’s Iowa City IA Dream Thieves
Sat 07/16/11 University of Wisconsin Madison WI 2011 Summer Concert Series, Battles
Tue 07/19/11 The Riot Room Kansas City MO Free Energy
Wed 07/20/11 Firebird Saint Louis MO Free Energy
Thu 07/21/11 Hi-Tone Cafe Memphis TN
Fri 07/22/11 The Basement Nashville TN Colorfeels, TBD local
Sat 07/23/11 Pilot Light Knoxville TN TBD, TBD
Sun 07/24/11 Local 506 Chapel Hill NC TBD
Thu 08/04/11 Greater Kennedy Plaza Providence RI
Fri 08/05/11 Prospect Park Bandshell Brooklyn NY w/ Ra Ra Riot, Buke and Gass
Sat 08/06/11 The Wassaic Project Wassaic NY Wassaic Festival
Sat 08/13/11 Stanhope House Stanhope NJ w/ DJ Deep Creep
