When we think about the role of dreams in our lives, they serve as both the places we go when we shut our eyes as well as the hopes and aspirations we hold for the future of our loved ones and ourselves. Playing For Change began as a dream to create something that could be full of positivity and inspiration for the human race. We have found that music is the greatest tool on earth for us to achieve our dreams of a better world for everyone. The village of Kirina, Mali is the heart and soul of this dream and a place with music at its core.
It is an ancient village with about 1,000 people, all of whom are descendents of musicians, many of them over 75 generations of musicians. They have no electricity, but enough soul to brighten all of us as we share this journey together. It is also the home of the newest Playing For Change Music School. When they heard the Playing For Change crew was coming to visit them to discuss the idea for the new school, they told us they had dreamed we would come, and they are prepared to be a part of the next chapter of our life’s journey, and thus have titled the new school “The Playing For Life” Music school.
Last week we traveled with the Playing For Change team to Kirina with our brother andsoul mateBaaba Maal. He is a legendary singer in West Africa, and even he was humbled by the opportunity to visit the people of Kirina and meet the elders. He told us that he learned about Kirina growing up in school, but did not realize that it was a real place that still maintains their ancient traditions and culture. We traveled with 4 cars full of musicians and the Playing For Change Foundation crew and were greeted with open arms and songs from the villagers. We gave gifts to the elders and were granted permission for Baaba and friends to perform music for the village chief under the mango tree. I swear if ever humanity has shined a light it was on this day!! Baaba performed for all the people in Kirina and was joined by our friend and percussion master, Mohamadou Diabate. The elders from the village had donated land for us to build our new music school, and this day was an opportunity to celebrate the great future we all share together.
I ask everyone who believes in a better world for tomorrow to join us today to build our next great music and art school in the village of Kirina, Mali. Together, it is a dream that we can make come true, and we will always know that there is a place where music and inspiration are passed on from generation to generation for the betterment of all of humanity – Playing For Life!!!
With the arrival of Sinamuva, the South African choir from Umlazi, our band is now complete. Everyone was overjoyed as all the musicians met each other for the first time, and that energy spilled right over into today's rehearsal. The bus ride was one massive jam session, with the choir singing and the rest of the band playing improvised percussion ranging from hand claps to banging on the ceiling-- the ball bearing curtain rods even became a make-shift shaker! The energy of the whole group is off the charts and I know that tomorrow's show is going to be an unbelievable experience.
After rehearsal we all piled back into the bus and took over an Indian restaurant. The food was delicious and the company could not have been better. It feels like one big family vacation here in Madrid, and we're looking forward to sharing the experience with a few thousand more members of the PFC Family tomorrow night at La Caja Magica.
The PFC Band spent the day in the studio today. It was a long day but we got a lot accomplished. The band recorded a beautiful version of Clarence Bekker's original "Mr. Morality" to start with. Following that the band went to work on a version of a song by The Temptations that was absolutely through the roof (Mr. Bekker has a gift for Motown!). We wrapped the day by adding a few of the band members to our new Songs Around The World, which was the perfect end to a long session.
By the time we got home we were all beat-- we all pulled close to 12 hours at the studio, and were looking forward to catching a bit of rest before rehearsal the next day. Bhekani and Sinamuva are due to arrive in the morning, and we can't wait to add them into the mix. Until then...
We have a busy week ahead of us between rehearsals and a number of small promotional performances, but everyone's spirits are high and we're all looking forward to putting on a terrific show Thursday. We walked through the venue today and let me tell you-- it is big! It's an indoor football (american soccer) arena with three levels of seating. All told it holds ~6,000 people, which will make it our largest indoor performance.
We rehearsed for a few hours today, but the guest artists who were scheduled to practice with us ended up having to push a day so we wrapped early. Before we left, Titi decided she would teach a quick African Dance lesson. The picture at the top of this posting shows Pierre, Mermans and Mark joining in the fun!
We woke up this morning and checked out of our hotel in Seville, and are now traveling by bus to Madrid. As I write this, we're about two thirds of the way through the 350 kilometer journey, but the time has been flying. For the past four hours the back of the bus has been one big jam session, where a constantly changing group of musicians are singing, playing, and writing music. Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls have turned the middle of the bus into a screening room, where they are sharing videos of the various shows the band has performed around the world this past year (don't worry-- we are planning on releasing these soon!). Meanwhile Enzo Buono has transformed the front of the bus into an editing studio, where he's working on mixing the new Songs Around the World we just began in West Africa. And while all this has been going on, I have been sorting photos from the past few weeks (10 gigs down, 30 to go!). Jonathan Walls edited this short piece together so that you could share in the fun with us, I hope you enjoy it:
We're due to arrive in Madrid in a couple hours, at which point it will be full steam ahead as we all prepare for our final concert of the year on the 17th. We'll be adding Venkat and members of the Sinamuva choir to the lineup from last night, and will be performing in front of the largest indoor audience we've ever had. If you live anywhere near Madrid, I would not miss this show-- More Fire!
