The Malian and Cuban musicians behind AfroCubism close out their three-city tour of North America at The Town Hall in New York City tonight. The Times of London calls AfroCubism "an album of extraordinary cross-cultural musicianship." It was featured on NPR's All Things Considered, which sums up AfroCubism as "a summit of giants at play—their egos in check, their hearts open and the tangled history of two worlds flowing through their veins." The Wall Street Journal notes the album's "easy communion and some gorgeous details."

The musicians of the new album AfroCubism launch a three-city North American tour tonight in Montreal, then head to Boston and New York. The Boston Globe calls this "the most important world-music tour of the season" and describes the album as "thrilling and impeccably produced." The Wall Street Journal says it displays "the same kind of creative genre-mixing in world forms that we're accustomed to hearing in North American jazz." PRI's The World says "AfroCubism feels like something that's long overdue has finally arrived. Triumphantly." Alarm Press says "the album has an electrifying liveliness that stems not only from 15 years of pent-up collaborative energy but more than 100 years of crisscrossing cultural histories."

AfroCubism will be featured on today's edition of PRI's The World; Nick Gold, the album's producer, will discuss the project, some 14 years in the making. The Village Voice cites two early tracks on the album as "about as perfect a blend of AfroCubism's two dominant cultures as you'll ever find; the rest of the album sustains that high ... At long last, Gold and his cohorts have achieved something that lives up to its original promise, a direct link between the Old World and the new." All Music says: "a true musical meeting of minds between the two cultures."

AfroCubism makes its much belated North American release this week, followed by a three-city tour of Montreal, Boston, and New York City. The New Yorker calls the project a "collaboration well worth the wait." The New York Times, in a feature article on the album, calls it "a rich yet subtle fusion of African and Cuban sounds." AfroCubism is also featured in a Reuters/Billboard article and reviewed by Dusted, which calls it "elegant."

AfroCubism is set for its North American release on Nonesuch this Tuesday, November 2. The band comes to North America for just three nights of live shows the following weekend in Montreal, Boston, and New York City. AfroCubism made its first live appearance at the Mar de Musicas festival in Cartagena, Spain, this past July. You can watch the band perform the album track "Nima diyala" at the festival in a video here.

Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's World Cafe. Allen made his World Circuit / Nonesuch debut with the release of Secret Agent earlier this year. Kouyate performs on the album AfroCubism, due out this Tuesday. The latter album is featured on AOL Spinner, which that traces its roots back to the recording sessions that launched Buena Vista Social Club.

AfroCubism is out in North America in just over a week, when the eponymous band kicks off a brief tour of the US and Canada. It was recently featured on The Strand from the BBC World Service, which calls it "a gorgeous mix of African and Caribbean traditions"; host Mark Coles calls the track "Jarabi" "one of the most beautiful things I've heard in a long time." The album was also recently featured on CNN International and earns four stars from the Daily Telegraph.

AfroCubism is out in the UK today on World Circuit; it's out in North America November 2 on Nonesuch. The Guardian sees the album as "a joyfully ebullient meeting point between traditional Malian music and the kind of Cuban rhythms the Buena Vista Social Club brought to the wider world," and gives it four stars, saying these musicians "have recorded an elegant, gently exquisite album." The Observer calls it "A delight." The Financial Times gives AfroCubism four stars as well; MusicOMH gives it five stars, citing the "wonderful results."

AfroCubism, the long-awaited collaboration between Cuban and Malian musicians, is the subject of an article from Reuters, which spoke with the album's producer, Nick Gold. "Gold has brought the story full circle," says Reuters, "and gathered together the original invitees to make an album mixing the tight rhythms of Cuba with the snaky guitars and desert drums of Mali." Says Gold: "Maybe this huge wait that had taken 14 years. This music seemed to just pour out."

With AfroCubism due out in just over a month, National Geographic has an exclusive music preview, streaming the album track "Al vaivén de mi carreta." The album and band are the cover story of the October issue of Songlines. "It's a quite superb coming together of Cuban and Malian traditions to create something that sounds excitingly fresh and new," says writer Nigel Williamson. "There was a genuine creative tension between the tightly structured approach of the Cubans and the looser, more improvisational attitude of the Malians. And it's perhaps this tension that makes it such an exciting album."

AfroCubism, the collaboration between Cuban and Malian musicians that was meant to take place when the Buena Vista Social Club was born, is due out October 19 and is now up for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with the exclusive bonus track "El Manisero." "What I've heard of Afrocubism so far sounds pretty awesome," says NPR's Robin Hilton on the All Songs Considered blog, which premiered a new behind-the-scenes video today. Watch it here.

AfroCubism—the great world music album that never was—has finally been realized and is due for release from World Circuit / Nonesuch Records this October. To coincide with the release of the album, AfroCubism the band, featuring some of Cuba and Mali's finest musicians, will embark on its first full tour this fall. In North America, where the album is due for release on Nonesuch October 19, the group will stop in Montreal, Boston, and New York.