The first Playing for Change viral video, "Stand by Me."
PHOTO GALLERY
• Playing for Change around the world
Where: Park West, 322 W. Armitage
Tickets: $35
Information: (800) 745-3000
For Grammy-winning producer Mark Johnson, the first step to an adventure that would take him around the world began in a New York subway station.
It was there on his way to work one morning that Johnson heard two monks performing, one playing the guitar, the other singing in a language he did not understand.
"A crowd of people was stopped. No one was getting on the train," Johnson recalled. "When I got to work, I realized that some of the best music I had heard in my life was on the street, not in the studio."
That realization spurred Johnson to found Playing for Change, a project with the simple but logistically challenging mission of connecting the world's people through music.
Johnson began by making videos of unknown singers and musicians from around the world performing together on songs like "Stand By Me," "One Love," and "War/No More Trouble."
The videos went viral on YouTube and now the Playing for Change band, made up of some of these same musicians, is touring around the country, including a show Tuesday at Park West.
"These musicians had not met before but had fallen in love with each other through the videos," Johnson said. "They've come together into this force that shows how music connects us to our humanity, one heart to another heart."
Tour member Louis Mhlanga, a guitarist from South Africa, says the beauty of Playing for Change is that it continues to grow in new ways.
"It's really very magical," Mhlanga said. "It's a learning experience for all of us and a way to grow together as musicians."
Johnson's four-year journey to create the videos began in Santa Monica, Calif., where he happened upon the late street musician Roger Ridley performing a stirring version of Ben E. King's classic "Stand By Me."
"It was incredible to see a guy on the street who embodies all that music stands for," Johnson said. "Roger told me, 'I'm in the joy business.' For him, it wasn't about being rich and famous. It was about inspiring people with whatever you do in life."
Johnson, who comes across as a bit of a starry-eyed idealist, began networking to find other musicians willing to add layers of their music to what he saw as a multicultural version of "Stand By Me."
In New Orleans, he tapped Grandpa Elliott, a legendary French Quarter busker, who harmonized with Ridley, followed by the amazing vocal gymnastics of Clarence Bekker, then living in Amsterdam. Also added into the rich mix were musicians from New Mexico, Brazil, Moscow, South Africa, Spain and Italy.
"I didn't have a clue what Mark was really up to," said Bekker, from a tour stop in Washington, D.C. "I was familiar with the concept of bringing artists together, but not like this. This blew my mind."
On YouTube, the "Stand By Me" video, featuring 37 musicians, quickly went viral. It currently has well over 14.5 million hits.
What began with street musicians quickly gathered more traditional musicians into its fold. Johnson continued traveling with innovative mobile technology, filming and recording more than 100 musicians and singers, largely outdoors, in parks, plazas, doorways, on cobblestone streets and hilly pueblos. After landing in a country, he used local guides to find musicians known for playing native instruments or singing in the style associated with the area.
He recorded South African buskers. He trekked into the Himalayas. He recorded an Irish children's choir that united Catholic and Protestant singers. He got tracks in India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Israel. He even got Bono to lend a hand on "War/No More Trouble."
"Bono has a similar message in his life and work," Johnson said of the U2 frontman. "He was inspired by the project and wanted to be a part of it."
Playing for Change performing Bob Marley's "One Love."
In his previous life, Johnson engineered for artists such as Paul Simon and Jackson Browne. Now, he seems happy to hang out with musicians like Elliott, who is a member of the current tour. Johnson was instrumental in the production of Elliott's upcoming album, "Sugar Sweet," which he refers to as "Grandpa Elliott's Graceland," a reference to the classic Simon album.
"He's blind and been performing on the streets since he was 6 years old," Johnson said of Elliott. "He's taught me everything I know about soul."
The entire Playing for Change experience is captured on a CD that features the aforementioned songs, as well as seven others, including "Talkin' Bout a Revolution," "Biko" and "A Change Is Gonna Come," and a DVD that covers the recording experience, including interviews with participants and the final product -- the videos.
It's a big world and Johnson isn't ready to stop his adventure just yet. He'll record a new batch of songs starting in early winter in West Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.
He's also created the Playing for Change Foundation to build music schools around the world, then connect them together with cameras and recording equipment. Schools already have been built in Gugulethu, South Africa, and Tintale, a remote village on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Others are under way in Ghana and Mali.
"The idea is to create a network of inspiration for kids," Johnson said. "We're working on technology that will allow them to play together in real time."
Johnson says technology was key to the success of Playing for Change. He thinks none of this would have been possible 10 years ago.
"The music world is immigrating into a global village," Johnson said. "The question is how much do you want to belong to it. We're all on this planet together. It's not his or hers or theirs. It's ours. And we can do more together than apart."