Trailer for A Story of Sahel Sounds.
From his Portland, Oregon, apartment, Chris Kirkley is rewriting the rules of the music industry. He deals modern West African music to the small but growing following he’s amassed from his Sahel Sounds project. Part blog, part record label, it’s the platform he’s built for the transnational beats he spins at clubs. Aware of the power bias his white privilege confers, Chris’s contracts operate on fair trade principles, splitting profits 50/50 directly with artists. Cameras follow the trailblazer to Niger, as he searches out the musicians whose music he’s heard played on cell phones, searching for years to track some down. From the electronic keyboard wizard Hama to the female guitarist Fatou Seïdi Ghali of Les Filles de Illighadad and the stars of Etran de L`Aïr, Story of Sahel Sounds pulses with an amazing soundtrack, delivering the beats and rhythms of a new Saharan trade.