REVIEW: Playing For Change at Symphony Hall

Monday November 22, 2010

From The Boston Herald

Playing to change world
By: Bob Young

When filmmaker and producer Mark Johnson was recording street musicians around the world for a stitched-together rendition of “Stand By Me,” it’s unlikely he imagined that the resulting video would end up clocking more than 25 million YouTube views.

He probably never thought that those musicians would wind up onstage at Symphony Hall either. But there they were Wednesday night: 11 musicians from Africa, the United States and Europe, banded together by Johnson’s vision to promote peace through music. What started out as a cool online experiment has evolved into the Playing for Change troupe, which has released its second album (a CD/DVD combination, “Playing for Change Live”), was the subject of a documentary on PBS and is set for another international tour in 2011.

The live show was even better than the albums and videos. And it worked without Ziggy Marley, Bono, Keb’ Mo’ and Toots Hibbert, all guests on the albums and at some concerts. Credit both the musicianship of the players and how well they blend together despite hailing from locales as far flung as South Africa, Detroit, Ghana and New Orleans.

To read the entire article click here

Higher Ground	4:46	Playing For Change
Redemption Song	4:10	Playing For Change
Stand By Me	6:04	Playing For Change

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