World Beat 2026
Tinariwen 2026 Tour
Under Donald Trump’s administration, some foreign bands are having second thoughts on touring the USA. Even bands that wants to come to America, they cannot, because of Trump’s travel bans on 19 countries (including Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone).
In a recent New York Times article, Grammy-winning African guitar band Tinariwen had to cancel their USA plans.
But by December, those plans were dashed when the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on 19 countries, including Mali, where most of Tinariwen’s members are from. The tour, set for theaters and clubs throughout the United States and Canada, was canceled, and Patrick Votan, the group’s manager, said he had no expectation that anything would change in the near future.
“It’s completely hopeless now to tour in the U.S.,” Votan said in an interview. “There’s not really any solution to come back again.”
Tinariwen Europe & UK tour 2026.
- 04/10 – Seignosse, Le Tube
- 04/11 – Bilbao, Guggenheim
- 04/13 – Porto, Casa da Musica
- 04/14 – Lisbon, Lisboa Ao Vivo
- 04/16 – Madrid, Sala But
- 04/17 – Barcelona, La Paloma
- 04/18 – Nîmes, Paloma
- 04/20 – Milan, Alcatraz
- 04/21 – Rome, Auditorium Parco della Musica
- 04/22 – Padua, Hall
- 04/24 – Prague, Palac Akropolis
- 04/25 – Vienna, Arena
- 04/26 – Budapest, Akvárium Klub
- 04/28 – Krakow, Klub Studio
- 04/29 – Warsaw, Progresja
- 04/30 – Berlin, Huxley’s Neue Welt
- 05/05 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
- 05/07 – Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
- 05/08 – Paris, Cirque d’Hiver
- 05/11 – Rennes, Le MeM
- 05/12 – Toulouse, Le Bikini
- 05/13 – Bordeaux, Rocher de Palmer
- 05/15 – Sofia, Hall 3, NDK
- 05/16 – Athens, Floyd
- 05/18 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
- 05/19 – Gateshead, The Glasshouse
- 05/21 – Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms
- 05/22 – Manchester, O2 Ritz
- 05/24 – Bristol, Electric Bristol
- 05/25 – Dublin, 3Olympia Theatre
- 05/27 – Copenhagen, DR Koncertsalen
- 05/28 – Oslo, Rockefeller
- 05/29 – Gothenburg, Pustervik
- 05/30 – Stockholm, Borsen Live
Mdou Moctar Solo 2026 Tour
Nigerien guitarist, singer and songwriter Mdou Moctar (Mahamadou Souleymane) has to do a solo tour, possibly due to Visa issues and travel bans from his full band, which would normally include rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, drummer Souleymane Ibrahim, and American bassist and producer Mikey Coltun.
Mdou Moctar
We did catch the full band in October 2024 and wrote, “There is not much similarity with the blues coming out of the Mississippi Delta and the Saharan Desert. Moctar has been compared to Jimi Hendrix, but his guitar sounds more feral. There is a beat that runs through his songs, like the train rhythm created by Johnny Cash. But instead of a lonely engine plugging along in the middle of the night, Moctar’s is a runaway train going at full speed across an endless desert with no horizon in sight. If you have never heard the Desert Blues, Moctar’s guitar is a great introduction. He plays loud, fast with little structure and sends a direct charge into the crowd. By the second song one guy kept hollering as if in a state of ecstasy. Another kept shouting “LEGEND”.”
Solo Tour Dates 2026
- Feb 4, 2026 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, PA
- Feb 5, 2026 Union Pool New York, NY
- Feb 6, 2026 Union Pool New York, NY
- Feb 7, 2026 Brighton Music Hall Boston, MA
- Feb 8, 2026 Space Gallery Portland, ME
- Feb 9, 2026 The Drake Amherst, MA
- Feb 10, 2026 Tubby’s Kingston, NY
- Feb 12, 2026 The Atlantis Washington, DC
- Feb 13, 2026 Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House Richmond, VA
- Feb 14, 2026 Motorco Music Hall Durham, NC
- Feb 15, 2026 AyurPrana Listening Room Asheville, NC
- Feb 16, 2026 The Spot on Kirk Roanoke, VA
- Feb 17, 2026 The Abbey Bar at ABC Harrisburg, PA
Desert Blues (Dec 5, 2025)
Track Listing
- Douna – Daby Touré & Chris Velan
- Ahoulaguine – Akaline Bombino
- Salam Alaykoum – Boubé
- Namania – Habib Koité
- Rokba – Tarwa N-Tiniri
- Ach Tamel – Angam
- Lahbeb – BROUA
- Izem – Tasuta N-Imal
- Kalata – Idrissa Soumaoro
- Baghi Ntoub – Nadirben
Our favorite World Music company Putumayo released Desert Blues in December 2025, and compiles some of music from North Africa’s Sahara and Sahel regions.
Putumayo spotlight these artists:
- Daby Touré & Chris Velan (Mauritania / Canada): Mauritanian singer-songwriter Daby Touré and Montreal’s Chris Velan blend desert blues, folk, and global pop.
- Bombino (Niger): Nigerien guitarist Bombino merges desert blues, rock, and Saharan traditions and is one of Tuareg music’s biggest international stars.
- Boubé (Niger): Niger-born, Montreal-based Tuareg musician Boubé is a rising star in the Tuareg music scene.
- Habib Koité (Mali): Malian griot-descended guitarist Habib Koité fuses traditional rhythms with contemporary styles for an innovative sounds that has made him one of African music’s most beloved artists.
- Tarwa N-Tiniri (Morocco): Morocco’s Tarwa N-Tiniri mix Amazigh roots with blues, reggae, and desert rock, expressing desert identity and youth perspectives from Ouarzazate.
- Angam (Morocco / France): Paris-based group Angam, blends Moroccan Darija vocals, oud, mandola, and guitar into a cross-cultural sound that draws from the lead singer’s North African roots.
- BROUA (Tunisia): BROUA unites Tunisian folk traditions with jazz, blues, and Latin touches, creating poetic, cross-border arrangements rooted in their Mediterranean identity.
- Tasuta N-Imal (Morocco): Morocco’s Tasuta N-Imal expresses a deep commitment to preserving and sharing Amazigh cultural heritage while opening it to global influences.
- Idrissa Soumaoro (Mali): Malian musician Idrissa Soumaoro combines Bambara traditions, blues, and West African string music, showcasing decades of influential songwriting and cultural leadership.
- Nadir Ben (Algeria / France): Algerian artist Nadir Ben fuses Arab-Andalusian, Gnawa, and pop influences, exploring identity and Mediterranean heritage through emotive, contemporary songwriting.