Oumou Sangaré was making her first US tour since her Africa Fête appearances in 1995. This time, she hit the road with Habib Koite, double-billed as the Voices of Mali tour. I called her in Aspen for a brief chat, just as she was arriving at a snowbound hotel.

AFROPOP WORLDWIDE: What are your impressions of the tour so far?

OUMOU SANGARE: What's important to me is that this is the first time I have toured with Habib. So people who come to our concerts will get a really deep impression of Malian culture, a bit of everything. I play the rhythm of Wassoulou. Habib does the cultures of Mali, a little of everything. So someone who doesn't know the rhythms of Mali will now know them deeply.

AW: What was your favorite concert so far?

OS: I really liked the Tucson, Arizona. The place was full. There were a lot of Malians there too. Some had driven for six hours to be there.

AW: I gather you spent an evening with Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Brown in California.

OS: Habib played very well. Me, I didn't like what I did there.

AW: Why not?

OS: I found that I did not play well there. That can happen, you know.

AW: I suppose it can. Tell us about your new record.

OS: If it hadn't been for this tour, my album would have come out in December. Because of the tour, we've delayed a little. It will come out in January in Mali. It's finished, ready. We made most of the recordings in London and a little in Paris. We're going to mix it in London.

AW: Are you happy with it?

OS: I am very, VERY happy with it, and a little surprised. I don't much like to talk about a record before it comes out. I speak as always about women. This time, I attack a little bit women who are too free, who do whatever they want, who don't respect their own dignity. You have to respect yourself before others will respect you. I go after women like that. I say, "I love you. It's true. I'm there for you, but I want you to try to help yourself." We are women, but I call on us to respect ourselves. That's called "Yala," the young women who go out and do whatever they like. I say that is not good for our dignity. I made this song in a very danceable rhythm, the kind young women like. I did it in a rhythm you could even dance to in a nightclub.

AW: Did you invite musicians outside your usual group for the recording?

OS: I invited a lot of musicians this time. There is of course the kamelengoni and the djembe. But there's one with about six violins. I changed my chorus this time. I invited a lot of people. I'd have to look at a list to tell you them all. But I am very, very happy.

AW: We heard the recording you made with Trilok Gurtu, African Fantasy. What was that like for you?

OS: That was a very nice experience. He was someone who really liked the way I sing. I'm going to tell you something I have never told anybody. When we made the recording, he wrote the music, and then he invited me to Paris to come sing. When I started to sing, he got goose bumps. He was covered with little buttons, because he loves my voice that much. I could see them on him.

AW: I understand. You sang beautifully.

OS: I really enjoyed that, even his way of playing the instruments. It's very different from what we do. [SWITCHES TO BAMBARA?]

AW: Who are you talking to?

OS: I'm talking to Baba Salah (her guitar player). He is dancing all by himself. This tour is not finished. There is a LOT left to go. [LAUGHS] Room 140. Now we are getting our hotel keys. We are in the middle of the snow. My God, there is ice everywhere! AW: See you in New York, Oumou.

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