Today we're here to talk about our recent trip to Brazil
working on new Songs Around The World.
These are songs that we started a few months ago in Angola
with the Playing For Change crew, Manu Chao, Mermans Mosengo.
The idea of this batch of songs was to reconnect cultures
that have been divided through the slave trade--
specifically, Portugal, Angola, and Brazil.
And we wanted to unite these three countries together
through music
and reinvent how they see each other, you know.
Instead of having it be connected through tragedy,
when you use music,
you get to reconnect hearts and create joy.
Brazil and Angola share so much history
and are bonded by the Portuguese language.
In the Portuguese language, we have a special word, saudade,
which describes a feeling of longing for something or someone.
In this production,
Playing For Change is connecting the saudade that Brazil feels
for Angola's culture and music.
Come join us.
We started by recording in a favela outside of Rio de Janeiro.
We go in to record some incredible percussionists,
Paulo Heman,
who's been featured in a bunch of Playing For Change
Songs Around The World.
He's toured and performed with the Playing For Change Band,
and he opened a lot of doors for us,
the biggest door being this favela.
You know, in this favela,
there's no police even allowed here.
You have to receive an invitation.
When you come here, bring good energy,
you make friends, you make a family,
and you make music.
That's what we're doing here today.
Music came into my life for a cause
I was playing football in the street
and a guy passed by with a guitar.
He proposed to make some music. I didn't know how that worked.
Then my first instrument was a bongo
and from there I never stopped playing music and instruments.
I was investigating and investigating and learning and learning.
And today I'm playing for change!
I remember Jackson Browne once saying to me,
"Get involved in the musical life,
'cause it'll take you to places and offer you experiences
that otherwise would never be possible."
That couldn't be more true,
as we've learned with Playing For Change,
but now, we're also able to extend that journey to all of you,
to the audience,
to the people that support us,
so that you can see the magic and the power
of what music can do.
Right now, we're looking for the location to record the bass
on the Bonga song from Angola.
So after the favela,
we went to record an incredible bass player
named Alana Alberg.
I started playing when I was 13 years old,
motivated because my brother played guitar in a band,
and was then when I met the bass,
and I felt passionate
I can't explain that feeling I had hearing that sound.
I asked my brother, "What instrument is that?"
He said bass. I said, "Wow, that's great."
Alana Alberg is a phenomenal bass player, a virtuoso.
She plays with a rock and roll band from the '80s called Blitz.
And it was really interesting to have that rock and roll and funk
with that female touch.
When we put headphones on Alana
and as soon as I heard her play,
I remember just thinking, "Wow."
She comes from a deep place, musically,
holding her own and really laying down an incredible bass line
and connecting with all these other legendary musicians
and kind of bringing them together.
Brazil has that attribute of having a lot of mixed influences.
Being a colonized country,
a lot of people from other countries move to Brazil.
So directly or indirectly, we have so much influence on African music.
And I think that makes Brazil so rich musically
especially from Africa, having such absurd rhythmic richness.
I love it, love it, love it so much!
Here we are in Rio de Janeiro.
Beautiful morning.
Gonna record the guitar legend Torcuato.
My name is Torcuato Mariano.
I play the guitar and electric guitar.
I was born in Argentina
and moved to Brazil when I was fourteen.
From that point on,
I started taking music more seriously.
My first job was with one of the biggest names in Brazilian music,
Johnny Alf when I was seventeen.
One of the pioneers on Bossa Nova.
When he put on the headphones,
you can hear him play.
Super humble,
and he's produced some of the biggest albums
in the history of Brazil.
So for him to be involved in the song from Angola
was a really powerful experience.
He knows so much about the music
and the culture and the history of Angola.
I believe that Brazilian and Angolan music
are completely connected.
The Brazilian rhythmic roots come from there.
All the rhythmic patterns
from Angolan music, African music, as a general rule,
are built-in Brazilian music.
All of them.
Brazil is an African country.
I believe we are lucky to have
to have this influence,
because is an incredible swing.
So the next day,
we go to record a legendary drummer, Jorginho Gomes.
Here's our crew unloading the equipment.
We're in the botanical gardens,
which is a really special place here, protected,
and they've given us permission to bring the drums,
go somewhere inside this amazing place,
find a location, set up microphones,
and record Jorginho on new Songs Around The World.
Jorginho Gomes is a multi-instrumentalist.
He plays the drums, the mandolin, the cavaquinho, percussion,
and he's also a composer.
He actually helped shape Brazilian music as we know it today,
and it was a really nice experience to see him perform live,
to be around him as he plays the drums.
It's such a visceral and powerful energy.
He's for sure one of our national treasures.
Stevie Wonder said, "Jorginho makes your heart beat faster
when we hear him play."
The first song that we were working on
was Jackson Browne's "Doctor My Eyes" around the world,
and I could see how proud he was.
First, he was a big fan of Jackson Browne,
but also, a deep connection to Angola.
He really understands where the music of Brazil comes from,
so he was really excited to connect with his Angolan brothers
and create something amazing through music together.
That mix of Angola-Brazil, Brazil-Angola,
comes from Africa,
it's a union of sound,
a union of rhythms.
It's a conjunction of affection.
It's a union that becomes the same thing
coming from the heart,
from the soul.
That's the magic of these Songs Around The World.
When you record in Brazil,
there's a deep connection to the music of Angola.
It's unspoken,
it's something that they feel.
This whole project is based on a feeling.
It's about finding ways to unite people who may be previously divided,
but it's also a way of persevering together
and creating something bigger than ourself.
And music, besides everything, is a spiritual connection.
It moves
our spirits,
our minds,
and makes you become a better person.
When people connect through music,
they have no gender, have no race, there's no preconceptions,
and then everybody becomes one,
and when everybody is connected
everything is better.
The first thing to unify
and forget about division
is to listen to the music.
Because it's the music that guides.
We are the same and the world is one.
And the music will only work if you think
of integration, not segregation.
Music is always linked to the world,
the more we are moving the more we're connected.
The world turns around music.
Music comes from there, it gets mixed everywhere, and the world is connected through music.
Playing For Change's relationship with Brazil
has been magic from the start.
When you go to Brazil, there is such a positive energy,
this incredible joy for life
and for enjoying the moment in time.
So I feel like that's why they love the project so much,
because this is about that.
It's about connecting all these different people around the world
in positive ways
so you can see the world we live in is an amazing place.
We have our struggles,
but we have so much light, positive energy, and joy,
and that's what the music brings.
So every time we go to Brazil,
we feel that come right back like a mirror.
So it was an incredible honor and opportunity to record Torcuato,
Jorginho Gomes,
Alana Alberg,
Paulo Heman,
connecting music and hearts through Songs Around The World.
Yes!
This is Mermans Mosengo.
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Mofaya!