BEYOND MUSIC VOL.3 – CONFLICT
You can download and listen to the album on all known platforms.
Follow the link:
https://lnk.site/beyond-music-volume-3-conflict
Produced by four-time GRAMMY Award winners Michael League Plays Music Music and Bill Laurance of Snarky Puppy and made possible via the digital music platform Beyond Music: https://www.beyondmusic.org
The 54 artists involved in Vol.3 are as diverse as their views on the theme of “conflict”. Coming from 40 different countries, their approaches to the musical leitmotif were very different. One song addresses the global refugee crisis, another the ecological conflict between us humans and our planet Earth. Some songs embody “conflict” through their instrumental arrangement, others through the clash of different musical styles. Most of the pieces are about inner chaos tied to the challenge of finding one’s place in this turbulent world. The compositions on Vol.3 are methods of dealing with conflict and transforming it into the one language that connects us all: Music. At that, Vol.3 is a genre-bending fusion of funk, jazz, pop and world music.
Michael League and Bill Laurance about the album:
“Producing Beyond Music Vol.3 was a labor of love. To see such a wide spectrum of interpretations of the theme ‘conflict’ was a real joy, and it was hard narrowing the tracklist down to the 16 album tracks. The sheer amount of diversity within the 140 submitted pieces is beautiful, and it’s fantastic to see collaborations take place across continents. We’re proud to have created an album that’s both diverse and cohesive at the same time.”
Featured artists on Beyond Music Vol.3 – Conflict:
Adam Baldych (Poland)
Ali Asaad (Syria/Austria)
Bijayashree Samal (India/Switzerland)
Bodek Janke (Kazakhstan/USA/Germany)
DonBlu (South Africa)
Ernest (Argentina)
Fatime Songoro (Tanzania/Hungary)
Felix Higginbottom (United Kingdom)
Fer Ruiz (Argentina/Spain)
Gamze Yilmazel (Turkey)
Giuliana Potenza (Argentina)
Giuliano Modarelli (Italy/United Kingdom)
Gozub (Chile/Canada)
Gurdain Rayatt (India/United Kingdom)
Harshitha Krishnan (India/Nigeria/USA)
Hussain Hajj (Syria/Turkey)
iZAYA (Kenya/Rwanda/Uganda)
Jens Kristian Rimau (Norway)
Joan Paredes (Argentina)
Jonathan Baptiste (USA)
Josh Doughty (United Kingdom)
Juan Barallobres (Argentina)
Kan (Japan/USA)
Kari Sal (Poland)
Leonardo Sapere (Argentina/Italy)
Lis Kamala (Brazil)
Lukas Gasser (Switzerland)
Makadem (Kenya)
Makihiyo (Norway)
Mamak Khadem (Iran/USA)
Marshall Muze (Nigeria)
Marthe Valle (AdamNorway)
Matías Núñez (Argentina/Brazil)
Mauritz Lotz (South Africa)
Midori Jaeger (Japan/United Kingdom)
Mira Siegel (Denmark)
Msafiri Zawose (Tanzania)
Nic Legacy (Canada)
Poggy (United Kingdom)
Ronan Skillen (Ireland/South Africa)
Sebastián Pérez (Brazil/Argentina)
Shabnam Parvaresh (Iran/Germany)
Silvia Aramayo (Argentina)
Simmy Singh (United Kingdom)
Simon Wyrsch (Russia/Switzerland)
Sofia Labropoulou (Austria/Greece)
Syssi Mananga (Belgium/Congo/Côte d’Ivoire)
Tefo Mahola (South Africa)
Varijashree Venugopal (India)
Vassilis Ketentzoglou/ Βασίλης Κετεντζόγλου(United Kingdom/Greece)
Vishnu R (India)
Yotam Ishay (Lithuania/Tunisia/Israel)
Youngchae Jeong (South Korea/USA)
Žofie Kašparová (Sweden/Czech Republic)
On its high-end online platform, Beyond Music, https://www.beyondmusic.org, brings together professional musicians, composers, singers and songwriters from all cultures and musical styles. The aim is to connect the dots of talent worldwide and to unite and inspire the artists through the ability to explore completely novel groupings of collaboration. Artists are given instant access to colleagues in some of the most far-fetched locations, using some of the most unique musical instruments. The level of creativity and innovation through such diverse settings have proven to put audiences in complete awe.
Each year, there is a new musical theme to which collaborations are submitted for the chance to appear on the Beyond Music album. The winning collaborators are awarded prize money of up to 80,000 US dollars. Under the musical theme “conflict”, 140 music pieces by a total of 850 collaborating artists were submitted for the Vol.3 project. 16 of them were selected by the producers Michael League and Bill Laurance of the music collective Snarky Puppy to be featured on the album.
Video directed by Marc Comes.
Poetry: “Sin” by Forugh Farrokhzad (1934-1967)
http://farrokhzadpoems.com/poems/
Sofia Labropoulou: Kanun, Composer, Arrangements, co-producer (Greece/Austria)
Mamak Khadem: Voice (Iran/USA)
Shabnam Parvaresh: Bass Clarinet (Iran/Germany)
Leonardo Sapere: Cello (Argentina/Italy)
Vassilis Ketentzoglou: Guitar (Greece)
photography and artwork by Marc Comes
Mix by Nick Hard
Mastering by Dave McNair
“Midday Prayer” is a middle-eastern bolero combining elements from Iranian, Greek, and Argentinian music. It’s an unlikely kind of prayer, a confession that occurs during the brightest hour of the day when the sun reaches its highest point and nothing can be hidden. At this moment, one is exposed, vulnerable, and yet liberated. Forugh Farrokhzad, who is an iconic and rebellious Iranian poet, inspired “Midday Prayer”. Through her verses, Sin transforms and acquires a divine quality. It becomes an anthem of femininity standing against the absurdity and the evolving darkness of our present.”
Sofia Labropoulou
The producers’ statement.
“This track feels like a prayer. The simple melody with organic instrumentation of kanun, guitar, cello, b. clarinet and voice create an effective sense of feeling grounded, whilst lending the track a deeper voice that seems to live beyond the music. This track has unique patience and humility, giving it a striking sense of cohesion and power.”
– Bill Laurance & Michael League