00:05His sound has been a decade in the making, culminating in his new album, African West.
00:13In his work, Senegalese musician Zahad Saar has been heavily inspired by African, American and other influences.
00:22And he has lofty ambitions in terms of reshaping these influences.
00:30He's falling for an uninhibited views in a new way of relating to the world, in a new way of
00:36thinking about mobilization, in a new way.
00:40A new way of thinking about mobilization, in a new way.
00:42Not the kind of mobilization that people want us, not the cultural and cultural industries, even music.
00:47We are waiting for African to produce a certain type of sand.
00:50We are saying no, we produce the kind of sound we want to produce.
00:55We are creating our own market, we are going to create our own sonic identity.
01:10Saar's work is driven by a pride in being African and deep connection to Senegal,
01:15where he leads a series of projects to inspire young people to be ambitious.
01:24I picture myself at a post-independence radio station in the 1970s.
01:28This is a sound that's made to speak about all the struggles that have taken place.
01:34African West Station is also a decolonial manifesto, a decolonial plea.
01:39It's a radio station that vibrates and broadcasts its waves across the whole of West Africa.
01:45So we try to bring in sounds from Guinea, Conakry, Mali, Nigeria, Ghana.
01:50We're going on a journey.
02:00Saar has performed with his band across the world.
02:03He'll be representing his country at the International Jazz Festival in Germany in April.
02:10Saar has performed with his individuals in the summer.
02:11Thank you very much for being here.
02:14Thank you, Maire.
02:18So now we're going to talk about a new angle.
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