Tuesday, September 15, 2009

'Playing for Change'


When music producer Mark Johnson came across street singer Roger Ridley's soulful voice in Los Angeles a few years ago, he had a brainstorm: record and film Ridley's raw and powerful rendition of an international hit such as "Stand By Me", then add voices and instruments from around the world to the arrangement. 40 people, to be exact -- from nations ranging from Nepal to South Africa, from France to India -- who have still never met each other. The "Stand By Me" video has gone viral on YouTube and is one of ten songs on the collection called Playing for Change, all produced by Johnson with his extremely mobile recording equipment.
Johnson even captured the voice of the late Bob Marley singing "War/No More Trouble" by creating a track in the same key and tempo as Marley's version and overdubbing Marley's vocal onto the track.

Facebook and e-mail readers can click here to see the "Stand By Me" video.




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