Playing for change

Playing-For-Change logo

Playing for Change (PFC) is a multimedia music project started by producer and sound engineer Mark Johnson with his Timeless Media Group . The aim is to bring musicians from all over the world together.

In the meantime, a separate non-profit organization has also been founded that builds music schools for children all over the world.

Emergence

The project started back in 2004 with the goal set by the organization itself to "inspire, connect and bring peace to the world through music". Founders Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono traveled the world visiting places like New Orleans , Barcelona , South Africa , India , Nepal and Ireland . With the help of a mobile recording studio, they recorded the interpretations of the same song by various (street) musicians. The two traveled on around the world and recorded the personal interpretations of more and more musicians, which were finally edited together for the final version . This created collages that show the musicians, choirs and music groups of different ethnicities and cultures in their home environment and mostly in the open air. A scene with John Lennon was integrated into " Imagine " .

Over 1000 musicians around the world are now involved in the project. Well-known artists such as:

Bono (U2), Keith Richards ( The Rolling Stones ), Keb 'Mo' , Los Lobos , Jackson Browne , Taj Mahal , Robert Plant , Bill Kreutzmann ( Grateful Dead ), David Crosby , Chad Smith ( Red Hot Chili Peppers ), Buddy Guy , Tom Johnston , John McFee and Pat Simmons ( The Doobie Brothers ), Lee Oskar ( War ), Robbie Robertson ( The Band ), Dr. John , Ringo Starr ( The Beatles ), Taimane Gardner , Larkin Poe , Marcus King, Rising Appalachia, Yo-Yo Ma .

success

The music video for the song “Stand by Me” is very popular online with over 147 million views (as of 2020) on YouTube .

Other popular pieces on YouTube are:

"Sitting On Dock Of The Bay" (86Mio)

"One Love" (55 million),

"Redemption Song" (46 million)

"Guantanamera" (30 million)

"Get Up Stand Up" (13 million)

"Listen to the music" (10 million),

"The Weight" (10 million).

The Playing for Change Foundation now supports or operates 15 music schools or projects (mainly in developing countries) in which 15,000 children and young people receive musical care.

Together with Grandmaster Flash and Anne-Sophie Mutter , PFC received the Polar Music Prize in 2019 .

CD / DVD sets

A CD / DVD set was released in 2009 under the name " Playing For Change: Songs Around The World" . The CD has 10 songs and the DVD has seven “chapters,” 5 of which are the music videos of the songs on the CD. There is also a film: “ The Playing for Change Foundation ”. The DVD also contains a three-minute trailer for the documentary " Peace Through Music ".

In 2011, "S ongs around the World vol.2" was published with 150 participants from 25 countries

In 2014 "Songs around the World vol.3" was released with 185 participants from 31 countries

In 2015 "Live in Brazil" was released with 10 tracks and the cast below

In 2018 " Listen to the Music " was published with 210 participants from 25 countries

Playing for Change Band

In the meantime a band was founded that toured several times since 2009. The line-up of the band changes over the years.

For the performances in Brazil and the CD "Live in Brazil" the line-up was e.g. B .:

Bass - Papa Orbe Ortiz

Drums - Peter Bunetta

Guitar - Louis Mhlanga

Guitar, Dobro - Roberto Luti

Keyboards - Keiko Komaki

Percussion - Paulo Heman

Vocals - Clarence Bekker

Vocals - Titi Tsira

Vocals, guitar - Jason Tamba

Vocals, guitar, percussion - Mermans Mosengo

Vocals, Harmonica - Grandpa Elliott

Vocals, percussion - Tal Ben-Ari "Tula"

It is significant that, besides English, mostly stanzas are inserted in the respective national language or songs such as B. "Chanda Mama" can be sung in its original language ( Hindi ). There is something like a regular cast to the z. B. Clarence Bekker, Grandpa Elliot, Louis Mhlanga, Roberto Luti, Jason Tamba and Titi Tsira. The co-founder of PFC Robin Moxey (Git) also plays at times.

#stayhomewithPFC

Due to the corona pandemic , numerous other music videos were published on YouTube in 2020 under the label " #stayhomewithPFC ", in which individual members of the PFC movement can be seen live from home.