Abazar Hamid is the Sudanese peace singer that was driven away from his country because of the music he made. On a January morning he met with world renown pianist Bugge Wesseltoft to share what they both have dedicated their life to – music…

The video has already been out since 3 February at www.safeseries.no, and a new video will be launched 3 March – on Music Freedom Day!

Abazar A. Bagi Hamid arrived in Harstad on 10 December 2014 as the first ICORN musician to be hosted by the city. Since his arrival in Norway he continued his work with music, amongst them the Orpheus project. 1 February he released the EP “We Need Peace” – produced by renowned guitarist Knut Reiersrud. The EP is his first release since arriving in Norway, released on the SafeMUSE label LIDIO.

Since the early 1990 ́s Bugge Wesseltoft has made an impressive, truly post-modern transition from his ECM nordic jazz traditions. Playing and recording together with the likes of Jan Garbarek, Sidsel Endresen, Terje Rypdal, Nils Petter Molvaer, Jon Eberson to forming his own innovative New Conception Of Jazz group and exquisite label Jazzland Recordings. Wesseltoft is multi-decorated with critics prizes for creating a unique, fresh blend of “modern jazz”.

SAFE, Stories About Arresting Music is focusing on artistic freedom as a basic human right, but a right that is not afforded to all of us. In Norway, most artists can enjoy this right and this freedom, but in countless other places artists are censored, imprisoned, threatened and even killed.

Since 3 November we have presented a monthly series of minidocumentaries that portraits the meeting between established Norwegian artists and threatened artists. We mark the end of the series with the celebration of Music Freedom Day, March 3rd 2019 at Kulturhuset in Oslo.

We have the freedom to lift up these stories. That is reason enough to do it.

GO TO WWW.SAFESERIES.NO FOR MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND THE FULL VIDEO.