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Posted by Francois Viguie, 7 months ago
A Sad Day in Kirina: Youssoufou passed away.
A couple of months ago we started a new program at the Kirina Music School: traditional history.
Our teacher was Youssoufou Kamissoko, a 90-year-old wise man who was a descendant of the founders of Kirina. He knew perfectly the long history of Kirina and the history of Mali in general. Every week he traveled to the music school to tell the history of Kirina, and of the Malian Empire to all the village. I say "all the village" because it was not only students from the music school that attended Youssoufou's classes. Teachers from the public school attended; villagers-- men and women eager to learn more about their deep roots attended. We filmed some of these classes in order to document his knowledge and some of the stories he told.
This morning Youssoufou passed away, and with him, a whole heritage has gone. As they say in Mali: "when an old man dies, a whole library disappears..." In a country where the life expectancy is 54 years, to live 90 years is a real accomplishment. I remember interviewing Youssoufou about the creation of the music school. From the beginning of the project, he had always been one of the most enthusiastic people in the village. He told me that he knew that the music school was going to have an international impact, and that in the near future students from other countries where going to come to Kirina to study music at the school.
We are doing our best to honor his words and his commitment for the transmission of African cultural knowledge at the school. Youssoufou, thank you from the bottom of our hearts: we'll never forget you and you've been a true inspiration for the whole village, and for all the people involved in that project.
François
Click here to watch "Dreams of Kirina," a beautiful episode we filmed with with Baaba Maal in Kirina, Mali.
Check out PFC Founder Mark Johnson's interview with CNN International's "Connect the World"
It has been another amazing year for Playing For Change. This fall the PFC Band completed its largest tour ever. On the road we rekindled old friendships, and rejoiced in new ones. Along the way we learned about an amazing project called "The Smooch! Project" that was started by Bonnie Fournier, a Minneapolis-based photographer.
Smooch! is a documentary record that demonstrates that all humans, regardless of social, economic, or political barriers, share a joyful willingness to welcome love and affection into their lives. To learn more about this beautiful project, click here.
As soon as we learned about Smooch!'s mission, we were excited to get involved. Bonnie offered to do a "Smooch! shoot" with the band while we were in town for a show, and we readily accepted-- that's where the above pic of PFC Band drummer Peter Bunetta being smooched by our roadie/photographer Lindsay Fishman came from! Click here to see more photos from the PFC Band's Smooch! photo shoot this fall!
Since its humble beginnings in 2004, The Smooch! Project has archived thousands of images, working toward their goal of 10,000 smooches. If you would like to "pucker up" and be a part of this historic, heartwarming effort email Bonnie: photogirl@thesmoochproject.com
From all of us at Playing For Change, we wish you a very happy holiday season surrounded by friends and family, love and light.
Peace and Love from Boston,
-Jeremy
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A dear friend of mine was married last weekend in Montana. A couple days before the wedding I was surprised and pleased to learn that she and her fiance had chosen one of Playing For Change's songs to be featured at their wedding: The Omagh Community Youth Choir's version (arranged by Daryl Simpson) of Bono's original "Love Rescue Me." They asked me to sit in on a rehearsal the night before their wedding, where a band made up of the bride's closest friends and family was preparing their musical accompaniment for the ceremony. They had a copy of our "Songs Around the World" release, and after listening to the track through a couple times they asked me to talk about the significance of the song.
I explained the history of the choir-- that it was founded by Daryl Simpson shortly after a terrible bombing that took place in Omagh, Northern Ireland in 1998. He created the choir in an effort to bring peace and reconciliation to the community and to bring Catholic and Protestant young people together through music. His vision was so perfectly aligned with ours that as soon as we learned about his organization our crew began making plans to film and record the choir.
The healing and connective power of Music touches us all throughout our lives-- sometimes in ways so subtle that we barely take notice, and other times so profoundly that our life's path pivots on the spot, transposing itself into an entirely new key. The next day these thoughts played along in my subconscious as I joyously watched my friend exchange vows with her groom while music filled the air.
I was in a Playing For Change Foundation board meeting when I got the message: "Jason and Mermans have landed-- they're in a hotel in Marina del Rey." The meeting had just adjourned, and I couldn't help but smile. The last time I had seen my friends was December in Madrid-- we had just concluded an unforgettable tour (almost thirty shows over the course of 6 weeks)-- and now here they were in LA! My brother and I drove straight from the meeting to their hotel; sheer joy as we hugged our hellos!
We headed back to our home in Venice and caught up. Before too long our conversation turned to the band's upcoming tour (which, or course is why Jason and Mermans were in town). My brother and I had just picked up an advance copy of the band's about-to-be-released live performance film, and we thought it would be fun to watch it together. Just as we popped in the DVD, Mark and Raan showed up-- perfect timing!
I could not have predicted the impact that pressing "PLAY" would have on me. I have been watching cuts of this film for the past six months. I knew every word that our band members were going to say, and every note that was going to be played. And yet as I watched Jason and Mermans watch themselves-- larger than life-- I was overcome.
The gravity of this project was hammered home for me. Years of traveling the world, meeting people who became my family; who opened their lives to our crew; who left their homes because they felt a connection to musicians across the planet; who created a band that connected the world... seeing the joy in their faces at the realization of a vision so powerful-- it left me speechless.
The group migrated to our backyard fire pit, and the evening was transformed into a campfire acoustic jam that beckoned the neighbors to come and join. I am so thankful to be a part of this project, and it is a true honor be able to contribute to its message being shared with the world. One Love!
