Songs Around the World 
Artist:  Playing for Change 
Label:  Wrasse Records 
Time:  CD:    10 Tracks / 45 mins
            DVD:   5 Tracks + 2 bonus / 22 + 4 mins
 
It’s not often that Bono plays support act to others, but here he is just a small part of a crowd getting together to promote peace through music. A pun on the coins thrown to street musicians for their work, and also the effect of that music, Playing for Change gets musicians from all over the world, who have never met one another, to record ‘together’. 
 
The idea came to Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Mark Johnson, when he saw 200 people watching and listening to a pair of monks playing in a New York subway one morning. The audience would normally be rushing past each other, but here they were – maybe risking a late arrival at work – standing together because of music. Struck by the evident connection that the situation brought about, he later spent a decade taking his mobile audio/video recording equipment around the world from Jerusalem to the Himalayas to record musicians playing outdoors.
 

He says, “"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." 
 
Despite some recordings being made on urban balconies, others on the beach or in the hills, Johnson has combined them into the work of a global band. Both CD and DVD start with Roger Ridley, Clarence Bakker and Grandpa Elliott all singing and playing on the classic “Stand by Me.” It’s eye-moistening to enjoy these ordinary people getting the chance to have their styles interwoven and made available to the world. 
 
If Elliott steals the show on this track, its Bakker’s mesmerizing and assured performance of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” that stands out when Johnson assembled a selection of the players from the project for a gig in America. This song closes the CD, and is watchable on YouTube (the song title and “Playing for Change” will get you there) as is “Stand by Me.” If these don’t get you excited about the project... then you may wish to go straight to the next review now.
 
There are just three recognized musicians out the 100 or so who perform here. Keb’ Mo’ starts the vocals on “One Love” (alongside singers from Congo, Israel, South Africa and India with – among others – guitarists from Italy and Zimbabwe, banjo from the States, tabla and sitar from Nepal and drums from Congo). Carrying on the Bob Marley theme, the credits on “War / No More Trouble” see Bono’s vocals squeezed between those of Rocky Dawuni and Mermans Kenkosenki. Marley himself appears on film (and tellingly, his name adorns Johnson’s cap).
 
So, nice idea, but how do the tracks stand up? The YouTube performances should prepare you for a high standard, and these are generally typical. A surprisingly laid-back “Biko” starts with female vocals over some lovely understated National guitar with the Omagh Community Youth Choir adding emphasis and the vocal hook. It’s a very different approach from Peter Gabriel’s, but it works. Keb’ Mo’ features a third time in one of his own tracks, the funky blues “Better Place,” enhanced by some great backing vocals and some tasty banjo and dobro. Proving that music from the world should not all be western in origin, “Chanda Mama” is an Indian folk tune that started in New Orleans and had pieces added from across the planet, before being taken home to India. Unusually, “Love Rescue Me” is purely by the Omagh Community Youth Choir, but its story – the nationalist and republican communities of Northern Ireland coming together to sing in this choir after the Omagh bombing – fits with the project’s ethos.
 
I’m not so impressed by the only original Playing for Change song, “Don’t Worry,” not least because of the way that the lyrics struggle to fit naturally into the music. The performance is strong, though, particularly Tula’s singing. (The DVD version is almost worth inclusion just for the magical moment when Django Degen plays his triangle on a beach with a tray of doughnuts on his head!). I also found the harmonies on Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” jarred a bit, but that may just be a personal or cultural thing, and these are perhaps minor niggles.
 
This is a well-conceived and brilliantly executed project, and its humanity really warms the heart. It’s the video section that sets it off as you see the expressions on these performers’ faces and watch them on their own turf, but huge credit to Johnson for a superb producing and mixing job. This is really worth investigating.
 
Derek Walker