Rokia Traore Launches North American Tour Featuring "Excellent" (NY Times) New Album, "Beautiful Africa"

New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Rokia Traoré, following a successful, months-long European tour that culminated in a show at Royal Festival Hall in London on Wednesday, kicks off a two-week North American tour at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater in New York City tonight, as part of the White Light Festival. The nine-city tour, featuring music from her critically acclaimed new album, Beautiful Africa , then heads west for stops in Vancouver, Seattle, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, before moving back east for shows in Minneapolis, Toronto, and Montreal. See below for all of the currently scheduled tour dates. For additional details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

The New York Times critic Ben Ratliff, previewing tonight's concert, calls Beautiful Africa "excellent," noting that the album "balances rough and smooth, soft and loud, ngoni and chiming electric guitar, lilt and funk," and describes Traoré as "a self-possessed, intense performer."

To pick up a copy of Beautiful Africa, head to iTunes or to the Top40-Charts.com Store, where CD orders include a download of the complete album at checkout, and MP3 and FLAC files are available to purchase.

ROKIA TRAORE ON TOUR
Nov 15 - Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center - New York, NY
Nov 17 - Chan Centre for the Performing Arts - Vancouver, BC
Nov 19 - The Triple Door - Seattle, WA
Nov 21 - Rio Theatre - Santa Cruz, CA
Nov 22 - Nourse Theatre - San Francisco, CA
Nov 23 - Luckman Fine Arts Complex - Los Angeles, CA
Nov 25 - Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN
Nov 27 - Koerner Hall, Royal Conservatory - Toronto, ON
Nov 28 - Club Soda - Montreal, QC.