Born in India, raised in Canada, and long based in New York City, vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia embodies world music at its best.

Steeped in Punjabi folk styles and the poetic, love-besotted ghazal tradition, she possesses an arrestingly beautiful voice and a capacious sonic palette that effortlessly meshes with leading practitioners of jazz, Cape Breton fiddling, and the Tuareg desert rockers of Tinariwen.

Touring in conjunction with the release of a gorgeous new album, “7 Billion,” Ahluwalia performs April 20 night in a double bill with Paris-based Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist Souad Massi, who fled her homeland in 1999 after a campaign of death threats.

Presented by Diaspora Arts Connection, the Lovefest concert brings together two bandleaders who set traditional forms in revelatory dialogue with the sounds around them.

Details: 8 p.m.; Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco; $35-$60; 415-636-7563, fortmason.org.