Rokia Traoré: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Every January, I attend globalFEST at a New York City nightclub and see some of the most fantastic music I'll experience all year. Now, given the pandemic's challenges and the hardening of international borders, NPR Music and globalFEST moved the 2021 edition from the nightclub to your screen of choice and shared the festival with the world. We called it Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. We presented 16 artists in intimate settings (often behind desks donning globes), all hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo.

Rokia Traoré performed at globalFEST in 2005, the music festival's second year, and it's a thrill to present her meditative performance as part of Tiny Desk meets globalFEST. Her work is rooted in the Malian musical tradition, but defies the confines of a single culture. Born in Mali to a diplomat father, Traoré had a nomadic upbringing that exposed her to a wide variety of international musical influences. She joins us from Blues Faso, a theater inside her Foundation Passerelle in Mali, which she created to support emerging, interdisciplinary artists, from music and the performing arts to visual arts and photography.

SET LIST
"Qanniuguma"
"Wolves Don't Live by the Rules"
"Arnaq"

MUSICIANS
Elisapie: vocals
Jean-Sébastien Williams: guitar
Joshua Toal: bass
Jason Sharp: saxophone
Robbie Kuster: drums

CREDITS
Producer: Edwin Perez
Video: Francis Maheu, Dominic Boudreau
Audio: Alexandre Fallu, Pierre Girard
Production Coordinator: Sophie Bernier-Blanchette
Artistic Director, Lights: Julie Basse
Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bob Boilen
Video Producer: Morgan Noelle Smith
Audio Mastering: Josh Rogosin
Associate Producer: Bobby Carter
Tiny Production Team: Kara Frame, Maia Stern
Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

GLOBALFEST TEAM
Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, and Bill Bragin
2021 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, and Viviana Benitez
Event Producer: Ian Thake
Host: Angélique Kidjo
Social Media Manager: Valerie French
Publicity: Brendan Gilmartin, Chart Room Media
Legal Services: Tamizdat
Legal Services: Duane Morris
Producer: THE OFFICE performing arts + film
Video Production: MODEMA Studios