a world renowned musician whose roots lie in northern senegal. his voice, guitar and rhythms have won him worldwide acclaim over five decades. he sometimes labelled the voice of the sahel. but how much influence can that voice yield? baaba maal, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. well, it s great to have you back in this hardtalk studio. now, you have a new album out, being your first for several years and i was interested to see the other day you describe yourself these days as an elder. does it mean your music is sort of changing as you gain more and more experience and wisdom? it s not changing at all. it s just coming to this natural way of playing music. maybe it s a kind of reflecting of the first way i was writing songs, where i was much more relaxed, not under pressure, not in a hurry, just taking a lot of pleasure of being into a studio, sitting in the middle of a garden and picking up my guitar and playing music, and songs comes naturally and i think this is what i
labour opposition mp diane abbott has been suspended pending an investigation into a letter that she wrote about racism in the observer. you re watching bbc news. now it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. west africa s sahel region has long faced enormous challenges, poor governance, extreme poverty and environmental degradation, to name but three. but it also has a proud tradition of giving cultural riches to the world and my guest today is baaba maal, a world renowned musician whose roots lie in northern senegal. his voice, guitar and rhythms have won him worldwide acclaim over five decades. he s sometimes labelled the voice of the sahel . but how much influence can that voice yield? can that voice wield? baaba maal, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. well, it s great to have you back in this hardtalk studio. now, you have a new album out, being your first for several years and i was interested to see the other day you describe yourself these da
and my guest today is baaba maal, a world renowned musician whose roots lie in northern senegal. his voice, guitar and rhythms have won him worldwide acclaim over five decades. he s sometimes labelled the voice of the sahel . but how much influence can that voice yield? baaba maal, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. well, it s great to have you back in this hardtalk studio. now, you have a new album out, being your first for several years and i was interested to see the other day you describe yourself these days as an elder. does it mean your music is sort of changing as you gain more and more experience and wisdom? it s not changing at all. it s just coming to this natural way of playing music. maybe it s a kind of reflecting of the first way i was writing songs, where i was much more relaxed, not under pressure, not in a hurry, just taking a lot of pleasure of being into a studio, sitting in the middle of a garden and picking up my guitar and playing music, and songs come
it s just coming to this natural way of playing music. maybe it s a kind of reflecting of the first way i was writing songs, where i was much more relaxed, not under pressure, not in a hurry, just taking a lot of pleasure of being into a studio, sitting in the middle of a garden and picking up my guitar and playing music, and songs comes naturally and i think this is what i was looking for in this album. you re a star of world music and you tour the world playing your music, but would you say that your music is still very much rooted in podor, your home town in northern senegal and the fishing community that you came from and the very sort of local place that your music was founded in? yeah, it has its own place, my region into my music,
you describe yourself these days as an elder. does it mean your music is sort of changing as you gain more and more experience and wisdom? it s not changing at all. it s just coming to this natural way of playing music. maybe it s a kind of reflecting of the first way i was writing songs, where i was much more relaxed, not under pressure, not in a hurry, just taking a lot of pleasure of being into a studio, sitting in the middle of a garden and picking up my guitar and playing music, and songs comes naturally and i think this is what i was looking for in this album. you re a star of world music and you tour the world playing your music, but would you say that your music is still very much rooted in podor, your home town in northern senegal and the fishing community that you came from and the very sort of local place that your music