John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension Tour with Gary Husband (keys and drums), Etienne Mbappé (bass), Ranjit Barot (drums).

OCTOBER
27/10/12 Toulouse Jazz sur son 31 France
28/10/12 Bordeaux ,Le Rocher de Palmer France
29/10/12 Paris ,Trianon France
30/10/12 Lille, France
31/10/12 Strasbourg, France

NOVEMBER
01/11/12 Zurich No Jazz Festival, Switzerland
03/11/12 Wroclaw, Poland
04/11/12 Gdansk, Poland
07/11/12 Ravensburg, Germany
08/11/12 Leverkusen, Germany
09/11/12 Dresden, Germany
11/11/12 London, London Jazz Festival, UK
14/11/12 Novosibirsk, Russia
16/11/12 Moscow, Crocus City Hall, Russia
17/11/12 St Petersburg, BKZ Oktjabrskij Russia
18/11/12 Minsk, Russia
19/11/12 Helsinki, Finland
20/11/12 Oslo, Norway
21/11/12 Oslo, Norway
23/11/12 Chiasso, Italy
24/11/12 Sacile, Italy

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There was a wonderful symbiosis about the coming together of Palestinian organization Al Mada and John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain’s legendary group, Remember Shakti. Formed in 2009 by Executive Director Reem Abdul Hadi and Artistic Director Odeh Turman, Al Mada is dedicated to improving the quality of people’s lives in the occupied Palestinian territories, not in the physical sense, but by lifting the human spirit through the medium of music and art as therapy. McLaughlin, perhaps not by design, has been doing something not too dissimilar for more than forty years, with music so powerful, and often so beautiful, that it is, in its own way, inspirational and transformative.

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I’m (John) waiting in Vienna airport for my connecting flight home coming from Amman Jordan, and I am still completely inspired and moved by our visit to Palestine.

Three days ago I had arrived with Shakti in Amman, to be met by the people from UNRWA who then drove us by road on to Ramallah. This was to be our final concert after the Indian tour. After passing many, many checkpoints and crossing the Allenby Bridge, we eventually arrived in the occupied territories and the city of Ramallah. I can say truthfully that I was thrilled to be there in spite of the fatigue of traveling and a long early morning flight. We were met at our hotel by the people of Al Mada, the UNRWA and UNICEF,  without whose help our concert would never have been possible. They were as thrilled as we were, that we had actually made it to Ramallah.

This was the culmination of a dream going back several years that had come true, and having coordinated over many months with Al Mada and the UNRWA, we felt as though we were meeting old friends. What we found in Ramallah in particular and Palestine in general, is a country and people who embody the legendary Arabic hospitality. We were treated like princes.

The following day we played our concert to a house that had sold out the day the tickets went on sale, and an enthusiasm rarely seen. The tickets were $5, but frequently they were subsidized by the different associations since to the young people of Palestine, $5 is a lot of money. In order to help the Al Mada association, Shakti played for free. This is the only non-governmental organization in Palestine that treats traumatized children through music. Unfortunately, there are many traumatized children in Palestine. For anyone who would like to know more about Al Mada please click here.

My personal motivation for going to Palestine came through the work Daniel Barenboim is doing there, and he really was the kick starter to my idea to attempt to organize a concert in Ramallah. When I told him about it several months ago, he was delighted. Of course there are other motivations, my personal conviction that music is a true power for healing, but some I only realized while being in Palestine. We’ve all heard about the ‘situation’ in Palestine, but nothing you’ve heard or seen compares to being there and seeing with your own eyes what’s really going on there. There are many, many things happening that never make the news and should. Palestine is in dire need of the world’s attention.

I knew before coming, that I had come here to share the joy and love that we as musicians know is the only reality in life, and in music these can be shared. What I realized very quickly after my arrival, was that I had come to feel their pain which is immense. What impressed me was the quiet dignity with which they carry this pain on a daily basis. Of course, wherever there is pain, there is also joy, and we as a group, saw and felt the joy and happiness that our friends there experienced on our arrival, and later in our concert. They in turn, saw the pain that we experienced on seeing the realities of life in Palestine. I now know, that once you have experienced the pain and joy of a people, they become part of you and your life, and this is what happened to us.

This is not the place to detail the oppressions that the Palestinian people are subject to, but the ‘situation’ must change. In 1984 I wrote a piece called ‘The Wall will Fall’ and five years later the wall fell and Germany reunified itself. I don’t believe my tune made the wall fall, but I know for certain that music helped the wall fall. Perhaps soon I will write another tune called ‘The Other Wall will Fall’ in the hope that the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank, and Palestinian families from each other will also fall, and a peaceful co-existence will triumph.

In ending, I can say that having been once to Palestine, I really want to return again and even dream about more internationally known groups and musicians making the effort to go to Palestine to share their humanity. It’s not easy, but who ever said that anything good comes easy?

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The Frankfurt Music Prize was founded in 1980 and has been awarded annually by the Frankfurt Music Prize Foundation on the occasion of the international Musikmesse in Frankfurt since 1982.

It is awarded to musicians, composers, teachers and personalities from the world of music for special achievements in the fields of interpretation, composition, musicology or teaching.

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I’d like to inform you that after several years of pursuing the opportunity of playing in Palestine, we finally have arrived at a real possibility of achieving this dream in February next year. There is a very important association in Palestine called Al Mada. Their work is healing traumatized kids and people using several means, but primarily art and music. Thanks to the determination of the great people in Ramallah, and with the help of UNRWA the group Shakti will play a free concert of ‘solidarity’ for the wonderful work they are doing in helping victims of conflict.

Have a wonderful holiday season

John

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