Listen to the Music, by Tom Johnston (featuring The Doobie Brothers, Ellis Hall, Rajhesh Vaidhya, Roots Gospel Voices of Mississippi, Char, and HIRAIDAI).
In music as in life, the things that make us different make us stronger. All the various instruments, tones, perspectives and cultures in this recording combine to create a new version of this classic Song Around The World.
The idea was born a few years ago during breakfast at the Byron Bay Bluesfest in Australia. Our friend and drummer, Peter Bunetta, introduced me to Tommy Johnston of the Doobie Brothers and we talked about taking “Listen to the Music” around the world. We started the track with an acoustic guitar demo played to a click track and then added bass from Colombia, tablas, and veena from India, and then headed to the Redwood Forest in Northern California to record and film Tommy Johnston live outside. We then recorded and filmed Patrick Simmons and John Mcfee playing along to the track in a park in San Diego. The journey then continued throughout North and South America, Europe, The Middle East, Asia, and Africa. This final version features 30 musicians from 12 countries united through their love of music.
-Mark Johnson, PFC Co-Founder
Lyrics and chords
Written By: Tom Johnston
Musicians - Instruments:
Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers): Acoustic guitar and vocals
John McFee (The Doobie Brothers): Acoustic guitar and vocals
Patrick Simmons (The Doobie Brothers): Acoustic guitar and vocals
Char: Guitar
Clarence Bekker: Vocals
D. Chandrajit: Tabla
HIRAIDAI: Ukulele
Denis Lisboa: Congas
Ellis Hall: Piano and vocals
James Gadson: Drums
Juan Carlos Portillo: Electric Bass
Lara Johnston: Vocals
Jose Agoté (Los Pinguos): Vocals and acoustic guitar
Adrian Buono (Los Pinguos): Vocals and acoustic guitar
Massamba Diop: Talking drum
Mermans Mosengo: Vocals
Nicola Hakim: Djembe and darbuka
Rajhesh Vaidhya: Veena
Roots Gospel Voices of Mississippi: Choir
Tarek Ayoubi: Oud
Playing For Change Band: Vocals
Titi Tsira: Vocals
