Change is coming to downtown Los Angeles. Actually, it’s the Playing For Change Band headlining a benefit show at Club Nokia on Nov. 13, and Toots Hibbert (of Toots & the Maytals) will join the group on stage.
The event, hosted by Norman Lear and Playing For Change founders Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke Burditt, hopes to raise awareness and money for the Playing For Change Foundation, which helps provide music education programs to needy communities around the world. This particular concert will direct funds toward a new learning center in Jamaica in partnership with the Toots Foundation. Tickets start at $20.
The Playing For Change Band features music performers from Africa, Europe, North and South America and various countries around the world. The group gained global fame for their “Stand By Me” video, which went viral with tens of millions of views on YouTube. The group has been featured on such TV programs as “The Colbert Report” and “World News Tonight” with Charlie Gibson.
This year alone, the organization has opened Playing For Change Music Schools in South Africa, Nepal and Ghana.