Mark Turner
Contributor

In these days of economic stress for us all, with the World in turmoil, and as we reflect on the passing of Easter and the deep meaning of which we tend to loose into today’s hectic and busy lives. We should stop and remember we are here but once in our lives.

What we do, say and how we act today reflects on us all tomorrow, no matter how little or how irrelevant we may think it is. The bickering and conflicts that not only we have between each other, both here at home or internationally, with different paths to the same goal, it is possible to live together in harmony, one World living as one, brother and brother, sister and sister standing side by side for the greater good of mankind.

It is, therefore, I bring to you an inspirational piece to pass on to your friends, colleagues and all you know. It is a composite of audio and video of a song, where by, various singers and musicians from different places from around the World laid in additional tracks.
 
This composition, in my opinion, is one of the best pieces of sound engineering work I think I have ever seen and heard. The piece, produced and compiled by Mark Johnson, lifts you up to know that we, if we so choose to do so, can live together, people of all creeds, backgrounds, ethnicity, religion etc, all it takes is the will. To treat each other with common decency, respect, learn from each other and to accept our differences, to do what is right.
 
The world is full of anger, corruption, distrust etc, but we know that it is mostly filled with love. Even our brethrens whom we have disagreements love their nearest and dearest.
 
The song itself is the classic standard "Stand By Me" originally released in 1955 by The Staple Singers and released again in 1961 by the Drifters.

This version is performed by many artists, 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.

I found this piece as one of Bill Moyers Journal entries on PBS web site; its also found on Youtube.com and it is doing the rounds on the Internet grapevine and was created by Mark Johnson.



 The piece is entitled Playing for Change: Peace through music
It is due to be released on DVD and CD in April 2009.
 
 Mark Johnson, is what I can only describe as a talented and forward thinking pioneer, he traveled around the World and recorded tracks for such classics as "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" thus creating a new mix in which essentially the performers are all performing together, but are worlds apart.

The performers, at times, conducted the recordings with only battery powered equipment and compiling their composition onto a previous recording. Johnson found musicians on street corners and in small clubs and, they would in turn, gather their friends and colleagues, in all, they recorded over 100 musicians from Tibet to Zimbabwe.
This unique composition of the song, which has musicians playing together yet in their own traditions, made Johnson think anew about what world music should mean and how it should be portrayed:

Johnson adds, just thinking in my mind... what would be unique instruments to juxtapose against each other that had never been heard before: a talking drum and a tabla, they're very similar but they never really come together, or a sitar and a dobro, very similar but how often do you hear them play together?

The idea was to go to places that would have some sort of instruments that they could add to the spectrum of the global music that we were trying to find. And too the piece, the finished product is tremendous!
So, sit back, turn up the volume and I dare you to not tap your feet and think “ What if ?”, and “What did I do today to make some ones life just that little bit better?