Spreading A Good Virus
Posted at 5:30 AM on May 1, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(24 Comments)
Speaking of the flu virus and dandelions in spring, this video has been spreading unchecked through e-mail boxes worldwide.
Kate sent it to me because she thought (correctly) that I would be charmed by the sight of musicians from far flung corners of the world - people who have never met - playing together on "Stand By Me", using the technological tricks of sound and film editing. It's great.
This is the result of ten year's work by a producer named Mark Johnson and an organization called "Playing for Change". Not only is the video a neat technological accomplishment, but they've been phenomenally successful at marketing, not only through viral video, but by getting Mr. Johnson on Bill Moyer's show and Jay Leno's too, as well as getting hard copies of the audio and video spread around through Concord Records and Starbucks. .
And for what purpose? The organization is trying to raise money to build music schools in impoverished places all around the globe. On a May Day when we've got lots to worry about, it's reassuring to know people are also working hard to make good things happen.
Music lends itself to inspiring collaborations with and without technology.
No doubt the success of Playing For Change will inspire imitations and elaborations.
We've already seen the You Tube Symphony Orchestra.
What's the next step?
Comments (24)
beautiful, breathtaking start to the day. thanks so much Dale (and Kate) for sending our way.
good morning to everyone
out to milk. wish we had HD RH up here so we could enjoy the music in the barn and teach the new kiddos the meaning of good music
Happy May Day! Wishing you May baskets full of flowers and RH music.
Dale, will you please play "It's May" from "Camelot'?
Happy Friday RH,
Very cool youtube. Thanks Kate and Dale. Nice way to end the week. The shots of So. Africa made me think of my daughter in Namibia. One group of study abroad students completed their stay this week. They made a meal imitating state fair food to celebrate. Now she gets to go on holiday to Capetown.
Have a great weekend all!
Beautiful video, Kate! Makes you think about stopping and listening to all live music, wherever it is being made, and appreciating the present moment.
Seeing Washboard Chaz in the video, I've added (mini) rub board earrings to my wardrobe for the Colin Hay/Peter Mulvey concert tonight - should be smashing with the orange bandana.
Ah, I see a bunny nibbling in my wildflower garden. He's dangerously close to the may apples (mandrake) so I hope he knows what and what not to eat. There's dandelions out there too, so that's probably what's on the menu.
Gotta run to work now. Happy weekend everybody!
Good Morning...Beth Ann, thank you for requesting "It's May" -- I was just about to do the same.
(Listening to Gordon Lightfoot's Edmund Fitzgerald) The wind off Lake Superior has finally calmed down and it may be a blue quiet lake when I drive over the hill later this morning rather than the icy blue white caps.
The White Throat Sparrows are finally here and filling the air with their clear sweet song.
The adjective amazing doesn't come close to describing that video. Thanks for sharing.
Have a great Friday and weekend, all! Elinor
Dale and Mike, '
Here I was ready to request You Are My Sunshine, but I see you already played it. Do you people read minds or something?
Thanks for The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, it's one of my favorites. Songs that tell a tale or some history are the most interesting to me. This one is especially well written. Could you play "Alice's Restaurant" or "City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie please?
Thanks! :)
Greetings Heartlanders! That is a very cool video and very inspiring. Last fall, I know YoYo Ma had an open collaboration contest. He played a very simple "Dona Nobis Pacem(sp?)" melody line on cello, which he put available online. Any musician could take the music and add their own whatever, and post it online again.
I don't know who won, but I listened to several submitted pieces and they were great. Ranged from classic, folk and rock styles (and more). The winner got to do a recording session with YoYo Ma. He is an amazing collaborator.
Morning all…
I was thinking about what other songs might work well in this video format and there are many but one that comes to mind for me is Alan Toussaint’s Yes we Can Can. I’d like to hear that one since it’s the last weekend of Jazzfest (wish I were there).
Gail, Washboard earrings? cool, can’t wait to see them.
Happy May Day/Friday
Thank You!!
Can't sit still when that song plays......
Since I don't have RH at home I have to wait until I get into my office to listen. It makes the act of coming to work that much more enjoyable. What a great way to start this morning. I am immediately going to send a link to my kids and siblings. We all share a love of the world and its diversity, and the music that surrounds us.
Happy May Day Dale and Mike.
ah, may day---not in the sense of "help!" or revolution, but in the nostalgic, candy-filled-paper-cone sense....did anyone else learn from their mom how to make construction-paper baskets, sneak over to friends' homes, leave the candy-filled baskets there, and then RUN!?
i've seen that video before, maybe on TV---so cool! how about pachelbel's canon in D? john lennon's imagine? a beatles tune: so many possibilities? a bob dylan tune: blowing in the wind? a peter paul and mary tune: if i had a hammer? joni's both sides now? dave mason, feeling alright?
this video is a wonderful example--to me one of the few--of new technology being used to make the world a better place :-)
Good Morning!
I'll have to check out the video after the show :-)
Thanks everyone for another great Radio Heartland week, with special kudos to Dale and Mike of course for putting the wheels on this train.
I don't know exactly what it is but the 'Steady On' song by Storyhill speaks to me like no other and any day that starts with it has no choice but to be a great day.
Have a great weekend!
...heh... Ironic that you'd play Wreck of the Fitz today. I'm headed back home to Duluth tonight for the wedding of a friend that I used to work with, giving tours on the S/S William A. Irvin up there. A bunch of us original guides from when the boat opened as a museum will be there...a little 'boat people' (as we used to call ourselves) reunion. In five summers of giving anywhere from 5-9 tours every day, I don't think there was a single tour where I wasn't asked something about the Fitz.
Kay H -- YES, we used to fill the baskets with caramel corn sometimes (ate more than made it to the baskets) and nuts. We would hang the basket on the doorknob, ring the bell and run.
I'm also a folk dancer, and there are still lots of dances done today from 'way back, I think the English Morris dancers started at 6 a.m., and at Tapestry tonight I imagine there will be something...
Off topic, responding to Donna yesterday: Ah, my mistake. I've seen SF in your entries, and was thinking SAN FRANCISCO, where I visited my sister recently. :) But you never know, I'll bet there are reasons to spend a week in Sioux Falls...!
Kay and Barbara, May baskets, Yes! In the 50's, my mom showed us how to make them from crepe paper-wrapped condiment cups. We put them on round paper doilies, then stapled four edges of the doily to the top of the cup and added a handle. Filled with candy. Placed on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run!
As a Catholic kid, I also enjoyed May Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary statue in church. "O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today. Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May."
Morning Heartlanders. My daughter and I are May Day basket leavers - we leave tissue paper flowers in our cones, not candy. Of course, in our neighborhood, all the houses are close together w/ big windows, so we leave them the night before. It makes us feel like international spies, sneaking around at night, bending low underneath lighted windows, leaving our treasures!
Thanks for the Pete tribute songs, Dale! The man is a treasure! If I could be at the concert in NYC this weekend, I would...
Great set of songs today, thanks Dale & Mike. I'm looking forward to listening to the replay of what I missed. Too late to ask for Iris DeMent?
how cool! my doorbell rang a few minutes ago, and when i opened the door, no one was there, but a little paper cup with flowers in WAS there! saw a neighbor (in her early 30s) with her two elementary-school-aged kids in the car driving away and waving....so sweet! and the tradition is not dead!
now that makes my day!
Oh Kay, that makes my day hearing that.....
How sweet that you were the one to bring up the May Day baskets and then you get one.
There's magic in the air.
Wow...This Magic moment is playing...how did Jasper know I was going to say there's magic in the music as well!
What fun we have every weekday morning.
Barbara in Robbinsdale,
I had a hunch you thought my SF was a different SF. Re your bet - don't put $ on it.
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