What happens when the veena plays and Bob Marley sings?

Playing for change is not your average world music fusion album

There have been a string of songs campaigning for world peace. Artists Bob Marley and Bono have gone beyond their roles as musicians to promote harmony. So, Playing for Change, a world music album that intends to promote peace through music may not seem exceptional. That is, until you play the accompanying DVD and watch musicians from across the globe play, not entire songs, but only their part in some of best-loved
inspirational numbers.

The cover of Bob Marley classic, One Love, has Tibetan singers based in Dharamsala come together with singers from Israel, Africa and USA. When they sing Lets get together and feel alright, you understand what it would be like if people across nations, ethnicities and backgrounds dropped their biases. The Veena, played by Chennai-based musician Rajhesh Viadhya brings a hint of classical music to this number.

War/No More Trouble has U2 front man Bono and Bob Marley himself joining the musicians in the song. Peter Gabriel's Biko has been taken up as a theme song for the Playing for Change movement. Like the other numbers, this one has an ensemble of musicians led by Irish singer Cathy Jordan whose voice virtually transports you to the fateful day of September 77 at Port Elizebeth when Biko died of police brutality.

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea arose from a common belief that music has the power to break boundaries. The group built a mobile recording studio, equipped with equipment used in the best studios, and travelled with it to wherever interesting music was being made.

Don't Worry, Pierre Minetti's song, the first original number featured by Playing for Change, shows that the group is capable of churning out some fine music apart from performing covers in their own style. Merman Kenkosenki and Jason Tamba, who witnessed the war in Congo, sing about creating their own musical revolution in Talkin' Bout A Revolution. The positivism of Keb' Mo and his group in the song Better Man is almost infectious with lyrics like I'm gonna make my world a better place, I'm gonna keep that smile on my face, I'm gonna teach myself how to understand, I'm gonna make myself a better man.

A Tamil Chanda Mama song gets a zingy twist with South African choir vocals, while a choir from Northern Ireland give Love Rescue Me a serene touch.

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