Welcome to the New 12th Gate coffee house!
Tonight, I am picking back up on the emerging movement to bring people together with music, Playing for Change. We first talked of this project in a blog post following a Bill Moyer’s Journal program last fall. Since that time, there are a couple of new videos out as well as a successful concert tour with several of the musicians.
Recording guru, Mark Johnson, takes his portable recording studio around the world and then splices together each of the clips that he has redorded on his trip into a wonderful video experience. There are two new videos on you-tube. They are also available for purchase – might be a good idea. I’ll start our evening tonight with them.
The spirit of Bob Marley always lives on. See notes for this clip:
As we made our way around the world we encountered love, hate, rich and poor, black and white, and many different religious groups and ideologies. It became very clear that as a human race we need to transcend from the darkness to the light and music is our weapon of the future. This song around the world features musicians who have seen and overcome conflict and hatred with love and perseverance. We don’t need more trouble, what we need is love.
This next song is a folk tune from Chennai, India. They started the track in New Orleans and added musicians from the across the globe before finally delivering it the people of its origin. They ended up in Chennai recording and filming the vocals from the Oneness Choir. The track has a feeling of perseverance and joy and features vocalists from four continents.
Johnson introduces this great video from the 2009 tour with the following comment.
The act of playing music with people of different cultures, religions, economics and politics is a powerful statement. It shows that we can find ways of working together and sharing our experiences with one another in a positive way. Music has the power to break down the walls between cultures, to raise the level of human understanding. In the spring of 2009, musicians from all over the world, most whom had never met in person, came together on stages across America to share their messages and inspire audiences with their musical collaborations. In this video you’ll see these incredible musicians performing Songs Around The World together live for the first time.
Marshall and his colleagues first made another documentary about street musicians. It was shot in 2002, but came out in 2005. Street Musicians – Blues Across America
I’ll close with the video that started it all. Stand By Me
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Behind the movement is the Playing for Change Foundation. The foundation provides resources (facilities, supplies, educational programs, etc) to musicians and communities around the world. The foundation is working with South African poet Lesego Rampolokenga to build the Mehlo Arts Center in Johannesburg, South Africa and building and supporting the Ntonga Music School in the South African township of Guguletu. In addition, Playing For Change is working to enhance and rebuild Tibetan refugee centers in Dharamasala, India and Kathmandu, Nepal.
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