We watch as the world’s fate is decided at Glasgow. Will we find a pathway to a survivable future?
I claim no special expertise in these matters. I know enough science to trust scientists in general, and enough about data to tell the difference between an honest and a misleading graph. I’m a musician, not a climatologist.
Are you following the Conference? Perhaps the endless minutiae of policy negotiations and the deadly consequences of a few decimal points here or there are wearing you down.
Allow me to offer you a place of repose.
Register at Music4ClimateJustice to get a little balm for your soul, while reminding yourself of the things that make our dear beloved stupid human species worth saving in the first place.
Let’s think about what we want to save.
What we need to save if we are to think of ourselves as worth saving at all.
Music 4 Climate Justice is offering almost five hours of music every day between now and the end of COP-26, streaming pre-recorded music videos from Glasgow. There is music from all over, in hundreds of different styles, countless countries and languages.
I’ve been working on assembling this extraordinary musical menu for...well, for years.
Every musician in our program has words for the policy-makers, for the politicians, for the world: Climate Change Is Real, It’s Dangerous, Action Is Long Past Due.
Take 90 seconds to get a taste of what’s coming in the next 8 days.
Here is today’s musical program (all times are GMT — make adjustments for your own time zone):
Day One — November 5, 2021
Segment 1: 7 - 7:30 PM GMT
Frank London — the great Klezmer trumpeter gives us a deeply moving instrumental setting of
“Die Tsukunft (the Future)” a Yiddish poem by Morris Winchevsky.
Geetu Unplugged — Mumbai-based vocalist Geetu Hinduja sings an ancient Sanskrit invocation, her powerful voice supported by a full rhythm section.
Zach Mayer — Vocalist and saxophonist Zach Mayer sings
“Adon Olam” (
Hebrew:
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם; "Eternal Lord" or "Sovereign of the Universe") accompanied by Indian-born pianist Utsav Lal.
Tahir Qawwal — A Sufi devotional chant set to the raga Yaman Kalyan.
Sean Frenette — a short virtuoso solo on a specially adapted guitar.
Benjy Wertheimer — a heartfelt musical collage from this specialist in devotional song.
Segment 2: 7:30-7:54 PM GMT
Segment 3: 7:55 - 8:25 GMT
Christina Schempf — This young horn virtuoso offers the 3rd movement of Brahms’ Trio for Horn, Violin & Piano.
West Newton Ceili Band — Irish traditional music.
Susie Petrov — Scottish dance music on accordion.
The Good Ones — Adrien Kazigira and Javier Havugimana are subsistence farmers from Rwanda, at the mercy of rapidly distorting climate patterns as they struggle to feed their families. They sing beautifully together while playing guitar and percussion. (Introduced by Grammy-winning producer
Ian Brennan).
Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith — This UK folk duo (who are very active in the Climate Justice movement) present their beautiful song, “
The Last Ploughshare.” They are actually in Glasgow as I write.
Segment 4: 8:26 - 8:59 GMT
John Luther Adams — “
Down The Mountain” (spoken) & “
In a Cold Place, Only Snow" (as performed by Bang On A Can). Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams’ music is saturated with a melancholy and evocative power. His spoken words are every bit as eloquent.
Segment 5: 8:59 - 9:29 GMT
Batara Guru — Indonesian social music. The ethnomusicologist Palmer Keen runs a website called
Aural Archipelago. He went out into rural Indonesia to collect several recordings specifically for this project, and introduces them with context about the music and the impact of climate change on the musicians’ lives.
Elements Trio — saxophonist George Brooks, violinist Kala Ramnath, and harpist Gwyneth Wentink offer an exquisite and moving instrumental...along with heartfelt testimony about climate change in their own experience.
Samaita & Christine Botsa — Shona
mbira music. The ethnomusicologist Erica Azim runs
Mbira.org, dedicated to propagating the traditional music of Zimbabwe. She introduces this recording of a mother & son singing and playing
mbira to “call the rain.”
Dibyajyoti Nath — “Dibya” is a brilliant bassist and composer whose composition
“Kaziranga” is dedicated to
Jadav Payeng, who made a forest happen, singlehandedly. The music includes wonderful segments of Dibya’s return to his roots in the villages of Assam.
Mukta Raste — Mukta is a great percussionist, one of the few women working as a professional
tabla player in India. She plays a solo including a special technique that evokes the sound of birds’ wings fluttering.
Segment 6: 9:00 - 9:20 GMT
Eric Marky Terena — This DJ, Beat-maker, sound artist, and journalist integrates original beats with the music of his indigenous Brazilian heritage.
Nadino Calapucha — Original music from this artist who is a leader of the
Amazonian Kichwa Nationality, from the Arajuno Canton - Ecuadorian Amazon.
Segment 7: 9:47 - 10:15 GMT
Adina Even-Zohar — Israeli jazz singer offers her version of
“When You Wish Upon A Star.”
Sol y Canto — Heartfelt singing and playing from this Boston-based pan-Latin duo, Rosi & Brian Amador.
Allizon Lissance — Keyboardist and songwriter Lissance’s short piece reminds us of all that we are trying to preserve...and it’s got a great bluesy swing to it!
Ranjani Ramachandran — Ranjani, a specialist in the
khyal style now living in Bengal, offers a short performance of raga Desh — a melody that evokes the beauty of the countryside and the wonderful healing brought by the rains.
Beatrice Anderson — The singer and sound therapist offers a short African song in her beautiful contralto.
Elitsa Stoyneva-Krastev — A bouquet of traditional melodies from the award-winning Bulgarian master singer. What a voice!
Jean Rohe — A song in praise of water, from this bilingual singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn.
Harriotte Hurie — A traditional English ballad from this singer and social activist, based in Somerville, MA.
The Tetseo Sisters — I swear I have never heard harmony singing like that of these sisters from Nagaland, in the Northeast corner of India.
Never. Every time I listen I am completely gobsmacked.
Tulokaa Janet — This young Ghanaian woman sings a personal song in a raspily expressive voice. I wish I could understand the words.
Segment 8: 10:15 - 10:45 GMT
Lei Liang: This Chinese-American composer makes orchestral music that integrates his multiple influences in Chinese and Western tradition.
It’s delicate, carefully-crafted, and deeply felt.
Listen to an interview, and excerpts from his orchestral composition,
“A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams,” as played by the
Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Segment 9: 10:45 - 11:00 GMT
Alhassa Mariwan — A singer from Ghana.
Anand Thakore — A short piece from this Mumbai-based Hindustani singer and poet.
Nick Morrison — Based in Berlin, Nick Morrison sings and plays multiple instruments, making music full of kindness and irresistible groove.
Zakaria Fuad — Another singer from Ghana.
Sabla Flex — A third singer from Ghana!
Segment 10: 11:00 - 11:30 GMT
The Climate Stories Project is an educational and artistic forum for sharing personal stories about the changing climate.
Sharing your climate story helps build an inclusive and effective movement to confront the climate crisis.
Segment 11: 11:30 - 11:45 GMT
Michael Braudy — A short violin piece from this versatile fiddler, who’s learned and played music all over the world.
Claude Palmer — A short solo on Oud by a fine musician based in San Francisco.
Nancy Lesh Kulkarni — Resident of Lonavala, India, Nancy Lesh Kulkarni has spent decades adapting a Western instrument to the demands of an ancient Indian genre, the
Dhrupad. Her playing is deeply respected by the practitioners of this artform, which is over a thousand years old.
Thomas Hanslowe — A quick fiddle tune from this expressive violinist, currently based in California.
Mac Ritchey — His colleagues call him a “musical Swiss Army Knife,” because there doesn’t seem to be anything Mac can’t do. Here he speaks from his home studio about climate and what it means for the music he loves.
Please join us.
You can stream the music all day today, starting whenever you like; the full program is almost five hours.
Register at M4CJ to connect and learn more.
Music won’t save the world by itself...but we won’t save the world without it.
Peace Out,
WarrenS