Playing For Change
Ever since he heard some street musicians outside a Subway station move some 200-odd passerbys to tears, Mark Johnson has been thinking up a way to shine more light on the transformative power of music. After ten years, this Grammy winning filmmaker has got something. Something remarkable, actually: bringing together musicians from around the world -- blues singers in a waterlogged New Orleans, chamber groups in Moscow, a South African choir -- to collaborate on songs familiar and new, in the effort to foster a new, greater understanding of our commonality. As part of 'Playing for Change', this is moving remix of the popular 'Stand By Me' performed by more than 100 musicians from Tibet to Zimbabwe!
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On the documentary I watched yesterday, the local PBS channel had Mark Johnson there live, with many segments of an interview. Mark Johnson had a little story about the opening singer in "Stand By Me," Roger Ridley, who has since passed. Johnson said he was in Santa Monica, about 2 blocks away from where Roger was singing, and heard his robust projection from 2 blocks away. One of the first things he asked Roger was how in the world he hadn't been snagged by some recording company, so awesome he was.
Roger replied, "Well, I'm not in any 'business', Mark, except the Joy Business!" I loved that.
