Musicians From Congo, Kazakhstan, Switzerland And United States Collaborate To Write “Water” To Address Global Water Crisis

BEYOND MUSIC Volume One / Same Sky is a first-of-its-kind music project that brings together 23 artists from 17 countries who have met and networked through a new online collaborative platform (https://beyondmusic.org) to create a definitive global music album, overseen and produced by 2019 GRAMMY Producer of the Year nominee Larry Klein.  “Water,” a fan-favorite song that confronts the global water crisis, while reinforcing an album-wide message of unity, was just released as an album single.  

Listen to “Water” here:  https://lnk.site/water-samesky

And watch the “Water” teaser video here: https://youtu.be/pGe5TwRadGk 

“Water" is a timely track that addresses the global water crisis that disproportionately affects women across the globe, as they often have to carry water over extremely long distances with great effort.  

Merging the talent of Congolese superstar Sheryl Gambo with the likes of Kazakhstani composer Eduard Glumov (winner of the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville), the USA lyricist Kate Northrop, and the prestigious Swiss flutist Sandro Friedrich (masters over 200 species), “Water” also stands as a metaphor for the emotional connection between people, which can bridge cultures and cross borders. 

The songs on Same Sky were first created via BEYOND MUSIC’s online platform (https://beyondmusic.org) that invited musicians from all over the world to collaborate virtually and to go beyond their borders. BEYOND MUSIC received 110 song submissions from artists from 48 countries and 55 genres, and selected 10 winning songs to be recorded for the first volume of what will be an on-going project. The 23 artists behind the 10 winning songs were flown to the famous Studios La Fabrique in southern France, and over the course of 12 days brought their songs to live with Klein, a world-class house band, and world-class engineers.  

Listen to the album in full here: https://lnk.site/beyond-music-volume-one-same-sky

When “Water” debuted online, it became the undisputed fan favorite, garnering almost 16,000 votes (out of 85,000 total votes cast) from the 110 compositions submitted. "Water" has also received the BEYOND FOUNDATION's special prize of 4,000 USD, the BEYOND CREATIVITY AWARD.   

Recently, the project’s producer Larry Klein appeared on Southern California’s KPFK, as well as KPCC’s The Frame to discuss working on the project.

Go behind the scenes with all of the musicians and team that brought these songs to life in this new video released by BEYOND MUSIC: https://youtu.be/9KaSX8wWGn8 

Learn more about the BEYOND MUSIC PROJECT, the artists involved, and the songs via this just-launched new album website: https://www.beyondmusicproject.org/

Artistic Director and producer of the album Larry Klein assembled the core band, of all-star musicians session players including Dean Parks, Ed Harcourt, Adrian Utley, Manu Katché, Clive Deamer and Dan Lutz, who have collectively played with Sting, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Patti Smith, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Radiohead, Portishead and beyond.

BEYOND MUSIC Volume One Same Sky featured artists:

Abdullah Alhussainy, Egypt

Beshar Al Azzawi, Iraq

Mariana Baraj, Argentina

Andreas Bernitt, Denmark

Heather Bond, USA

Moshe Elmakias, Israel

Danielle Eog Makedah, Cameroon

Brice Essomba, Cameroon

Sandro Friedrich, Switzerland

Sheryl Gambo, Congo

Jivan Gasparyan Jr., Armenia

Eduard Glumov, Kazakhstan

Mor Karbasi, Israel

Max Keller Music, Switzerland

Elly Kellner, Netherlands

John Lumpkin II, USA

Syssi Mananga, Belgium/Congo

Kane Mathis, USA

Kate Northrop, USA/Switzerland

Bijayashree Samal, India

Sasha Shlain, Russia

Ingrid White, Cameroon

Msafiri Zawose, Tanzania

About BEYOND MUSIC:

BEYOND MUSIC, www.beyondmusic.org, is an online platform that invites professional musicians, singers, composers and songwriters from all genres to collaborate worldwide. Cross-genre, cross-culture, cross-generation. The platform is financed by the Swiss BEYOND FOUNDATION, established in 2007 by the couple Regula and Beat Curti, a registered non-profit organization, supporting projects that unite cultures through music in order to foster cross-cultural understanding, awareness, dialog and respect. With their projects, the BEYOND FOUNDATION wants musicians from all over the world to inspire each other, to work together and to create a worldwide team spirit of togetherness and compassion.