I wanted to share with you the current music-driven fund raising effort by a friend of mine, Hunter Payne –  a great humanitarian and founder of much needed organization called Aid Still Required.  The CD features recordings by Paul McCartney, Ani DiFranco, Sarah McLachlan, Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, John Lennon, Norah Jones and more.

Proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit tens of thousands in Southeast Asia who are still struggling to restore their lives in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami. Current projects include alternative, environmentally-friendly livelihood training in Aceh, Indonesia and a community tsunami early warning center in Peraliya, Sri Lanka.

You  can learn more about the great work of Hunter, his partner Andrea and their organization Aid Still Required at www.aidstillrequired.org.

I’ve admittedly been slacking on my bloggin’, despite so many amazing stories to share about recordings and experiences of the past couple weeks with inspiring artists from around the globe.  That said, I’m only going to reach back to this morning to share a truly inspiring day, blessed with a very rich and diverse musical palette.

I started my day on a beach in Malibu with an Aztec healer of over 50 generations, trying to learn the meaning of sound in a 5000 year old language based on “Earth Song”. I met Miktlan Ehekateotl Kwauhtlinxan (“Ehe” for short), the subject of a documentary film called Serphant and the Sun, only 2 days ago, but I knew we had to share some time.  Coming from an ancient spiritual tradition that believes in energy and vibration, as opposed to a God figure, as the unifying force of all living entities, and names their culture after the song of earth sings, he was sure to hold some deep insights about sound, music and the way we can influence our experience on the planet through these gifts.  I was not surprised, either, to learn that his first name “Miklan” also meant transformation.

We had a beautiful sunrise walk on the beach listening to the sounds the earth shared with us and sharing the vibrations, history and insights that resonated in our hearts and in our equally passionate and inquisitive minds.

My next musical experience of the day was quite different, but equally inspiring.  I actually spent the past 2 afternoons with Thelonius Monk, Jr, Kevin Eubanks, Roy Hargrove, Tom Carter and MC Supernatural watching the end-of-the-year performances by the students of the Thelonius Monk Institute’s High School Jazz programs.  Today was the true highlight with their very cool Hip Hop and Bebop program finale at Manual Arts High School in inner city Los Angeles.  It inspired me enough to decide to commit the supporting the program for youth with my upcoming EarthTones music and film project – Scenes In Jazz.

Well I guess that makes a good segue to my evening event with my friend, Jazz legend, Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute and someone with the level of talent, integrity, and originality that transcends definition – the Honorable Herbie Hancock.  Herbie spoke about the making of his latest musical offering: the Imagine Project, bringing together singers and musicians from around the globe in a beautiful set of collaborations based on the theme of world peace and a common humanity among all of us- a perfect EarthTones fit and wonderful contribution by one of our leading Music Ambassadors.

“Music truly is the universal language,” says Hancock, “The Imagine Project will explore that concept across the globe, uniting a myriad of cultures through song and positive creative expression.  My hope is that the music will serve as a metaphor for the actions taken by the inhabitants of this wonderful planet as a call for world harmony on all levels.”

The CD from Herbie Hancock’s Imagine Project will be out June 21st. Check out the videos for some great inspiring performances by Herbie, Pink, Seal, Chaka Khan, Anoushka Shankar and many more.

Thank you for sharing another musically transformative day with me.

With yesterday’s opening of the Shanghai World Expo, I thought it only appropriate to write a few words that highlight the power of music in that part of the world.

Last Monday, a 5-hour benefit concert and charity show “Artistes 414 Fundraising Campaign” raised $4.8 million for the victims of the April 14th earthquake that rocked China. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Yushu county in northwest China’s Qinghai province killed more than 2,200 people.

Chinese stars performing or attending the Hong Kong event Monday evening included singers Sun Nan, Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, Leon Lai and Joey Yung, along with other celebrities including Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Do Do Cheng & Jackie Chan.

In the West, we often forget that popular music that we know little or nothing about is active in many cultures – China, India and Africa being huge examples. As technology becomes more and more available – music and film is able to reach more and more people, especially in areas of the world with such huge populations. Whether or not we can relate to the musical styles or understand the languages of the performing artists, we can’t deny their significance when millions of people within those regions are being touched and responding.

The Shanghai expo will introduce many world artists – including our somalian friend K’NAAN and American Jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Dee Dee Bridgewater, to millions of Chinese people for the first time and many Chinese artists to those visiting from around the world.

The opportunity to connect and positively affect the many cultures of the global community through music is growing every day.

I have just returned from an amazing concert and reception for Senegalese Superstar Baaba Maal. It has been several years since we first met, and I went to speak with him about featuring him in a film I am putting together on Music and Social Transformation. It was an inspiring evening of music and beautiful time to hang back stage with the group and my friend Mark Johnson (Playing for Change), who is currently making a film with Baaba and his band about the music of Mali. Mark is also building a music school for the young people of Kirina – a village with a long and rich musical heritage. Baaba played for the village to help mark the occasion (see video below).

Baaba Maal has always brought great inspiration and important messages through his music, both to the people of Africa and about Africa to the world. He has been one of the most globally popular African artists in recent years, along with King Sunny Ade and Youssou NDour, and a great contributor to the popularization of African music in the West. Baaba studied traditional music with his blind guitarist and family griot, Mansour Seck, and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. Mansour has continued to travel and perform with Baaba throughout his career and brought his magical voice and presence to the show and event tonight. In his earlier records, Baaba drew from ragga, salsa and Breton harp music to create a popular sound that launched the careers of Positive Black Soul, a group of rappers, and also led to the formation of the Afro-Celt Sound System.

Tonight’s performance was in conjunction with UCLA’s Department of African studies 50th Anniversary. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate history and cultural studies than though the musical masters and messengers – those that carried the history in their songs and poetry long before it was written in books.

I am truly grateful for Baaba Maal’s inspiration and generous heart and look forward to working with him on the film and visiting his home in Senegal, where musical talent must come from the water.

I had the pleasure of meeting Damian Jr. Gong Marley prior to his Distant Relatives launch party and show in LA last week. We have been trying to work out a time in his insane schedule to feature him on a song with Nigerian artist Nneka, as part of the international collaborations for conscious “Hip Hop” artists I’m creating for Beat The World. It was a really honor to finally meet with him, and even a bit nostalgic for me. I had just spent time in the studio with his brother Ziggy and featured a song of his on last week’s release of Yoga Revolution. Their father was a huge musical and personal influence for me (like millions of others). Rarely a week goes by that I don’t intentionally turn on, play or get inevitably spoken to by one of his songs. I even had a concert booked with the great Bob Marley for his last North American tour. Unfortunately for us all, he never made it. Still he continues to show up in all of our lives through his music, his family and the many musical messengers that continue to carry the torch he set on fire. As you can see, looking in the eyes of and speaking to Damian (aka: Jr. Gong) took on a whole world of meaning for me.

In conversation with my friend Mark Johnson (Playing for Change) before the show, we talked about Bob, Ziggy and Damian. His take on the music paths these two sons have followed and how it encompasses the spirit of their father was very insightful. Ziggy, he said, represents the “One Love” side of Bob Marley, while Damian speaks the voice of the social revolutionary side – “Get Up, Stand Up” or the classic “Redemption Song”.

On this particular night, in far less than ideal over-capacity Hollywood night club, I closed my eyes and was truly transported by the spirit of Bob Marley in Damian’s voice and words – with a timeless and unlimited resonance. That performance made so many things apparent – but none more so than the power of the music and the mission we have to carry it forth to the world. The torch was blazing fully.

That said, it is not fair to put all the spotlights for the evening or music performed on Damian. Adding Nas to the pairing brings the current incarnation it to yet another level, one with exponentially greater global reach. I have followed Nas’ music closely since first working with him on my In Too Deep soundtrack in 1999. Nas is one of the most incredible conscious-centered wordsmiths of contemporary Hip Hop. It is clear how he was inspired by working with Damian and the meaning behind the Distant Relatives project, as well as how his lyrical mastery influenced Damian’s writing.

I feel blessed to both experience the music and to work with artists who are dedicated to keep the torch of the great musical messengers burning .

Check out: Distant Relatives (the new record by Nas & Damian Marley) out May 18. Also check out: Mark Johnson’s Playing for Change tributes to Bob Marley. Ziggy Marley’s Love is Our Religion on Yoga Revolution. JPeriod & KNaan’s Messengers mix tape, featuring the music of Bob Marley. Sing any of Bob Marley’s songs in the morning, and it will change your day. Much respect…

One of the most inspiring events I attended during Grammy week was a tribute to one of the world’s greatest Opera singers. Placido Domingo. An amazing talent, true gentleman and humanitarian, Placido was one of the key people responsible for creating a resurgence for Opera – moving it from small concert halls to football stadium crowds with the Three Tenors featuring Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. In addition Placido has performed in over 100 movies, released over 50 full length recordings and performed as the lead in more operas than any other tenor in history. His last telecast broadcast to over 1.4 billion people worldwide. Prior to his LIfetime Achievement award this year, he had been nominated for or won Grammy Awards for his recordings on 11 different occasions.

But more than that, as leader of the Los Angeles Opera and the Washington National Opera in Washington DC, he founded and oversees The Young Artists Programs, helping young opera singers to develop into world-class performers and have sustainable careers.

It was these young protege’s that performed in honor of Placido, when NARAS presented him with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. You didn’t need to be an opera fan to be brought to tears by the depth of the emotion and beauty in the voices of some of these future stars of of the genre. And you didn’t need to be an classical music fan to be inspired by the tremendous contribution and commitment to the world of music and to our global culture by the great Placido Domingo.

I was recently blessed to share time and collaborate on a song with the beautiful young singer from Nigeria named Nneka.  Nneka is a special artist, much in the style of a young Lauryn Hill or Eryka Badu.  And, like the musical heritage of her birthplace, Nigeria, she helps carry the torch passed on by the great late Fela Kuti – using her gift of music to inspire and inform the people.  After seeing her perform live in Los Angeles during Grammy week, I decided she would be a perfect voice for the international collaborations with conscious Hip Hop artists I am doing for the soundtrack to my current film project, Beat the World.  Beat the World writer/director and my dear friend Rob Adetuyi shared my excitement about the possibility, especially since he is also of Nigerian dissent.

Nneka got together in my studio, talked about the film and our shared mission of using music as a way to connect and inspire people to move in a more positive directions.  The song is called Express Yourself, which Nneka does quite naturally.  We recorded her vocals in Hamburg last week. I am pairing her with another amazing voice in the global conscious music scene, whose name I will reveal in one of my upcoming blogs.

Nneka, whose name means “mother is supreme” grew up in the delta region of Nigeria and moved to Hamburg when she was 18.  She recorded two albums there, making her mark on both the German and UK charts.  She has also supported other notable artists such as Femi Kuti, Bilal, Gnarls Barkley, Sean Paul and the Roots and is slated for the upcoming Lilith Fair  and Nas/Damian Marley tours this coming summer. Nneka’s US Debut album, Concrete Jungle, hit the stores here just after the Grammy’s, with an inspiring first single called “Heartbeat.” Our friend and remixer extraordinaire, JPeriod, put out a mix tape with her  to help promote the CD, which features Talib Kaweli.  If you are in Austin during the South by Southwest Music Festival this month, you should try to catch one of her five shows there.

Of the artists that I have worked with this past year and those that continue to inspire me, Anthony Hamilton has a voice and persona that carries the torch for Soul Music.  He has that fat, rich, incredible voice that holds up with the best of the traditional Soul singers of the 60′s & 70′s, yet is immediately accessible to a new generation and always fresh in his delivery, making him one of those rare contemporary artists creating records that could prove to be classics decades from now.  He is also a humble and conscious person, 100% committed to the integrity of his music and work.

I am especially thankful to him for recording the title song I wrote for the film Soul Men (Sam Jackson, Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes), which was nominated for this year’s Grammy’s.  I knew when I wrote the song for Malcom Lee’s film – an original piece that had to sound like a classic Soul hit from the Memphis Stax Records (Sam & Dave, Wilson Picket) era of the early 70′s – that Anthony was the perfect voice to deliver that timeless sound.  Being a prolific and successful songwriter himself, Anthony Hamilton almost never records songs by other people.  With Soul Music, however, we hit a common note that resonated for both of us, the filmmakers and the audience.

The only other cover that I’ve heard Anthony perform recently was for the opening of a beautifully-made documentary called Soundtrack for a Revolution.  Soundtrack tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music -the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in paddy wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. The film features new performances of the freedom songs by top artists, including John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots; riveting archival footage; and interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, including Congressman John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, and Ambassador Andrew Young.

The freedom songs evolved from slave chants, from the labor movement, and especially from the black church.  The music enabled blacks to sing words they could not say, and it was crucial in helping the protesters as they faced down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence.  The infectious energy of the songs swept people up and empowered them to fight for their rights.

Soul Music as a genre has evolved out of black spirituals – music that expresses from the soul.  Since the 60′s, as a musical crossing between Gospel roots and popular R&B, the subject matter has broadened tremendously – from party & dance favorites to sultry love songs – but the essence of the style and the singers that have maintained the roots in their evolution and commercial appeal still has that uncanny ability to touch us deep in our own hearts and souls.