Playing for change thru-you

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Kutiman live

As a Pessah present I wanted to upload two amazing music videos that have been circulating recently. Apart from being superb musically and visually, both are uplifting in that they involve so many musicians from so many different countries. They also both use carefully blended performances of music to tie everyone together. The musicians, who have never seen each other, are linked either actively or by the producer to one another. Everyone is in a different place yet everyone is doing the same thing in perfect synch. It's probably that aspect that gives the viewer that uplifted feeling. The multiculti mix also enriches in ways that would be impossible in an ordinary production.
Since blogger won't let me upload the videos from you-tube, I'll just give the links and hope for the best.

The first is by an Israeli musician Ophir 'Kutiman' Kutiel who, after after months hunched over a computer in Tel Aviv emerged blinking into the sunshine to announce that he had completed the thru-you project. In this he has mixed you-tube clips from anonymous and (formerly) amateur performers to create 7 superb tracks Go to http://thru-you.com/

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According to music site The List "Israeli producer Kutiman has become an overnight internet sensation by mixing an album entirely from samples of YouTube videos. The online album Thru You (thru-you.com) has become so successful that (at time of writing) the site hosting it is down due to "overwhelming traffic"."

The second is Stand By Me performed by street musicians from all over the world. This was produced by the Playing for Change foundation programme whose goal to create a "music movement" that would "inspire and improve communities in need around the world through music". The on-site recording technique is different but the results are equally inspiring.
I've just seen that they have a new song recorded with the same technique -Bob Marley's 'One Love' . This includes contributions from an Israeli singer called Tula filmed in Yaffo.

Enjoy.

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