VOA标准英语2010年-Filmmaker Mark Johnson Connects People

Johnson's 'Playing for Change' music videos serve as inspiration to millions who have seen them on the Internet

Susan Logue Koster | Washington, DC 11 January 2010

 The Playing for Change Band performed in Boston in October 2009

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Playing for Change
On YouTube and other Internet-based social media channels, millions of people have seen the music video of Bob Marley's "One Love," produced by Mark Johnson.  It begins with a guitarist sitting in a doorway¹ in Italy.  He's soon joined by a group of musicians playing under a tree in South Africa, and a tabla player sitting in the courtyard of a monastery² in Nepal.

Amra Alirejsovic, VOA
Mark Johnson

Before the song ends, musicians in Israel, Congo, India and Zimbabwe have all joined in. "One Love" is just one of several songs around the world produced by Mark Johnson for Playing for Change, the organization he co-created.  "We just decided³ to look at a map," Johnson says, "pick locations far from each other and research the style of music that they play there and find ways to integrate them all together."

He did that with a small crew and a portable studio, recording⁴ and filming the sessions outside.
   
Inspiration in the subway

Before he started searching for musicians for Playing for Change, Johnson was a producer and engineer at a music studio in New York.  At the subway one morning, he saw two musicians who had attracted a crowd of 200 people.
    
"I saw two monks⁶ painted all in white from head to toe both wearing robes.  One of them was playing a nylon guitar and the other monk⁵ was singing in a language I didn't understand," Johnson recalls. "Nobody got on the train.  A collection of people who normally run by each other, here they are coming together for music in a language they don't even understand."

 
playingforchange.com
Mark Johnson and Playing for Change film crew in New Orleans

Johnson had worked with a wide range of talented musicians, from Biggie Smalls to Paul Simon.  He won a Grammy Award in 2005 working with Keb Mo, one of the musicians in the "One World" video.  "When you are with these groups you realize how much passion they all have for music, but they don't necessarily come together," Johnson says.  "I was searching for some way that can bring this all together.  And I think those monks inspired me to realize that it is just moments in time everywhere."
   
In March 2005, Playing for Change recorded its first "moment in time."  In the video a musician in Santa Monica, California, singing "Stand By Me," is joined through technology with musicians in New Orleans; Zuni, New Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, France, Italy and South Africa.  Since then, more than 100 musicians have been filmed and recorded in more than a dozen locations around the world.

"What we decided to do is unite all of these different musicians so people can see the power of cultures from all over the world uniting together for a common purpose," Johnson says.
   
Leaving a legacy⁷

 
playingforchange.com
Two young students in Ntonga Music School in South Africa

The idea is to inspire, but the videos, and a new CD, are only the beginning.  Johnson says Playing for Change wanted to give back to the communities where their musicians came from.  "What we would do is ask a lot of the musicians and their communities and their families how can we give back to you?"  They often told him they needed music schools, "something to offer the kids hope."

 

 
playingforchange.com
In August 2009, Playing for Change began construction on the Bizung School of Music and Dance in Tamale, Ghana

Three schools have already been built:  one in South Africa, one in Ghana and one in Nepal.  And more are in the works.  "We're building schools one at a time, but we are connecting them all together with recording equipment and cameras," Johnson says.  The idea, he adds, is to get the kids from different continents to talk and play music together and to, "kind of break down the stereotypes⁸ and prejudices we build at a young age."

Johnson isn't relying on technology alone to spread the message of peace through music, which is the mission of Playing for Change.  He's put together a band of musicians who are featured in the videos.  They've recently toured the United States and Europe, and Johnson says they will, "keep on going around the world."
 

1 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

2 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

6 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》