Playing for Change

This song says: “No matter who you are! No matter where you go, in your life! At some point, you gonna need somebody, to stand by you”. Those are the immortal words of the late Roger Ridley, the amazingly talented street musician who inspired the global movement known as Playing for Change. Ridley is the backbone of the movement’s staple hit, the inspirational Stand by Me, which features musicians from all around the world.

By the time the Americas Business Council (ABC) was introduced to Stand by Me, many within the foundation were already looking at music as a means for social healing. In research for a Reconciliation Forum in 2009, ABC’s team came across countless examples of how music played a pivotal role in helping people bury their differences. From Daniel Baremboim’s Palestinian-Israeli orchestra to Nigel Osborne’s work to heal a traumatized Ugandan society ravaged by civil war, it seemed like there was a basic appeal for this type of project.

One of the most important components of conflict resolution is to find a way to get both sides to recognize the basic humanity of the other, which is often hard when there are years of unspeakable violence and hatred between them. There needs to be a basic understanding of the other side’s fears, whether real or imagined. Only then is it possible to find a common solution that can generate a lasting peace.

Because of this, ABC decided to create the Healing Power of Music initiative, which will debut at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Latin America, taking place in Cartagena de Indias April 6-8. From here, ABC will work towards building a full forum on The Healing Power of Music in Miami in 2011.

Bringing Playing for Change’s inspirational and unifying power to Colombia seemed like a natural fit. While Colombia is a country of infinite beauty, deep cultural roots and a rich and diverse musical tradition, it has suffered from decades of internal armed conflict, ethnic strife and crippling inequality.

The process of selecting the song took months of careful deliberation. The song needed to have universal appeal, but also a quintessentially Colombian flavor. This was important because while we want to find common ground between all humans, it is also necessary to highlight the beautiful differences that make us all unique. Carlos Vives’ La Tierra del Olvido united all the qualities we were looking for, and its touching message of love speaks to our most powerful human emotion—the one that makes us do things we wouldn’t normally do, the one that conquers hate.

From there, ABC began the process of looking for musicians to participate. Colombia has a slew of different rhythms and musical styles that reflect the diverse backgrounds and identities of its inhabitants, and it was important to try and represent as many of those as possible, so we decided to shoot in three locations: Cartagena de Indias, Bogotá, and Medellín.

In Cartagena, ABC worked closely with Rafael Ramos, the organizer of a major local music festival, to reach out to the region’s most talented performers. He helped us find a talented guitarist from the local bar scene, a veteran Vallenato accordion player, a pair of coastal singers, and a lively percussion and dance troope. ABC also traveled to Palenque, a town whose inhabitants are descendants of former African slaves who have been able to preserve their own language and musical traditions. Playing for Change founder Mark Johnson, with his strong connection to West African music, immediately recognized the link between the local Palenqueros and some of the musicians from Mali he has recorded in the past. In Cartagena, we also recorded Bomba Estéreo, one of Colombia’s premier up-and-coming bands, to forge a link between the rich cultural history and the new age music coming out of the country today.

In Bogotá  ABC hooked up with Carlos Vives, who was touched to see musicians of all different backgrounds singing his song, including Colombian folklore legend Totó La Momposina. He brought a great energy to the shoot, and invited the entire team to breakfast at his restaurant, Gaira.

ABC also contacted the Colombian government, which has been a strong supporter of using music for social benefit. We worked with two government-sponsored groups, Canta Conmigo Por la Reintegración and Fundación Batuta. Their missions are different, but music is at the heart of both. Canta Conmigo has taken the successful format of American Idol and applied it to the armed conflict in Colombia. The contestants were all former guerrillas and paramilitaries looking to be “reintegrated” into normal society. Fundación Batuta’s focus is the Colombian extension of José Abreu’s massively successful El Sistema, a network of orchestras that gives children of any economic background the ability to study music.

The final stop in the journey was Medellín, a city that has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past decade. When we approached local officials with this project, we were introduced to a variety of programs, including RED de Escuelas and Altavoz. These two organizations believe in the power of music education to foster solidarity and peaceful co-existence amongst the youths of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Altavoz in particular has a strong presence in the “underground” music scene, incorporating an array of urban hip-hop, reggae, rap, rock and metal groups under the same umbrella.

After establishing the base of the track in Cartagena and Bogotá, we sought to add a unique flavor in Medellín. Altavoz recommended a pair of guitarists from the alternative rock band Artefacto. One of the musicians was also a tremendous player of blues harmonica, a style of music that is rarely seen in Latin America. His performance was mesmerizing. Later, we recorded a horn trio as well as a jazz pianist, which allowed the track to grow into something beyond the original version.

Our voyage with Playing for Change across Colombia is only the beginning of a longer journey, as we seek to spread our message of healing and unity. On April 7 in Cartagena ABC will produce its first Healing Power of Music event. The Song Around Colombia will be unveiled, some of the musicians who participated will perform, and a very special surprise-headlining act will entertain the crowd of the World Economic Forum. Our goal is to do justice to Roger Ridley’s plea to stand by one another regardless of where you come from, to capture a similarly powerful message for all of Colombia, and indeed the rest of the Americas.