Lala Tamar and Yacouba Sissoko Bring Morocco and Mali to the Indigo Room

Saturday, August 8, 5:30pm and 8:30pm | Great Barrington, MA | $43 general admission

The Mahaiwe's Indigo Room hosts two performances of "Lala Tamar & Friends featuring Yacouba Sissoko" on August 8, pairing a Moroccan singer-songwriter with a Malian kora master descended from a centuries-old lineage of musical storytellers.

Lala Tamar is a singer, poet, guimbri player, and dancer who blends Moroccan soul with Brazilian rhythm, singing in Arabic, Amazigh, and Portuguese.

She's shared stages with North African artists including Karim Ziad and Khadija El Warzazia and recently made her Lincoln Center debut. Her ensemble draws on caravan rhythms from the Sahara, shaabi grooves from Agadir and Algiers, African strings, Arabic vocal ornamentation, and music historically used in healing ceremonies and trance rituals.

Yacouba Sissoko was born into a well-known Djeli family in Kita, Mali—the hereditary caste of musical storytellers responsible for preserving the history and oral traditions of West African rulers, nobles, and families across generations. He started learning the kora, a 21-string instrument with a gourd resonator, from his grandfather at age nine and was touring the country by 15. He later studied at the National Institute of the Arts in Bamako, toured with artists including Ami Koïta and Kandia Kouyaté, and performed with l'Ensemble National du Mali, the orchestra his mother and grandmother once sang with. He currently performs regularly with Grammy-winning violinist Regina Carter and leads his own band, SIYA, blending kora tradition with everything from Indian ragas to Appalachian tunes.

Both shows are café table seating.

Indigo Room, 20 Castle St., Great Barrington, MA. Tickets $43 at mahaiwe.org.