Some years ago, at Jones Beach on Long Island, I was lucky enough to attend a WOMAD show. One of my strongest memories of the day was watching the band Ashkhabad from Turkmenistan on the second stage. They fused instrumentation and rhythms from so many of the cultures that traveled along the Silk Road. There we were, mostly middle-class Americans who had probably had never heard of their country, yet they had us dancing and singing along with them, eagerly repeating back the lyrics we didn’t understand in an enthusiastic call and response.
So much great music, fellowship and openness that day, sung in so many languages. WOMAD, of course, is one of the gifts given to us by Peter Gabriel, who described their mission:
“Pure enthusiasm for music from around the world led us to the idea of WOMAD in 1980 and thus to the first WOMAD festival in 1982. The festivals have always been wonderful and unique occasions and have succeeded in introducing an international audience to many talented artists.
“Equally important, the festivals have also allowed many different audiences to gain an insight into cultures other than their own through the enjoyment of music. Music is a universal language, it draws people together and proves, as well as anything, the stupidity of racism.”
For his work with WOMAD, his Real World Records and humanitarian work to help people find common ground through music and art, Peter Gabriel was honored as a Man of Peace at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates:
Gabriel was recognized for his work promoting human rights and world peace. He received the award in a ceremony on Rome’s Capitoline Hill that marks the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates organized every year in Rome by the Gorbachev Foundation and city hall.
Music has been a real blessing in my life, and opened my eyes to more beauty, joy, sadness, loss, opportunity and broad human experience than I could have otherwise ever dreamed. Gabriel has always been one of my favorites, and I’m glad to see him recognized for his work helping to spread this most wonderful of human creations, music, the doorway through which we can pass to know one another a little better, the glue with which we can hold together a better world.
The random music soothing my savage breast after you hit “read more”:
- “That’s Just What You Are” – Aimee Mann
- “Beyond Love” – The The
- “Goodbye Stranger” – Supertramp
- “Once Upon A Time She Said” – Allison Moorer
- “Sunset” – Roxy Music
- “Brighton Rock” – Queen
- “One On The House” – Allison Moorer
- “All Tomorrow’s Parties” – Velvet Underground
- “Communication Breakdown” – Led Zeppelin
- “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road” – Lucinda Williams