Carol Forsloff - In certain towns it has now become tradition as musicians stand on street corners playing tunes with an instrument case open to solicit passersby for some loose change to reward the earnest entertainers with nominal notice, leading to cities like Portland, Oregon becoming a music mecca for those in the know about playing for change anywhere in the world.“Playing for Change”maintains it is "connecting the world through music." The foundation has as its purpose fostering music and music education as a way of making positive changes in relationships of the world. It represents the discovery of of entertainers and those who found their talent, combining engineering genius to create a chorus of musicians around the world. An instrument from Africa might combine with an Asian flute, a New Orleans jazz voice and the guitar of a street entertainer in Spain to create various songs and sounds that have now become recognized all over the world as a special way of combining talents. This has happened because street musicians find their place in the open areas, and their connoisseurs discover them, for some that has led to profitable ventures on recordings and television specials, as has occurred with Playing for Change.
The Portland waterfront and Pioneer Square in the Oregon town fosters art of various kinds that brings young people adrift in worlds and words that some folks might not understand , but their music is eternal. They play as singers, dancers and entertainers have for generations, in open areas, around the globe, for as long as man has the creative urges to share with others what he or she expresses in an art. The troubadour of old today might be the young man on the corner of a downtown street somewhere, with hopes and dreams of somewhere, somehow being able to tell the story in his song beyond the confines of his simple place.
In Portland the authentic sounds of voice and instrument combine in wonderful ways to entertain those who wander along the waterfront. The prominent people parade along the walkway from their downtown condominiums in the Pearl District and other nearby places, mingling with the marginal folks who sit in solitude under a tree at the edge in a world quite all their own. The mix of beauty of sun and foliage on the river speaks to the wonder of Portland on a summer day. The music makes the day more special, as the players tell tales of yesterday and stories of tomorrow with the same hopes and dreams their elders did in days so long ago. The promise of their voices, in this city where green, progressive manners stamp their style on one and all tells us once again that while world politics bring dissent and disagreement, music is the universal language that commands us all.
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