DISCOVERING AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY Several months ago, I discovered Indaba Music, a wonderful Web site for musicians and music professionals. An international community of over 450,000 musicians, Indaba enables members to collaborate and post their original music online. My first experience of the power of this community involved a session, called Ocean, that I started by posting a piano part I had recorded in my home studio. Another artist heard the piece, requested to join the session, and downloaded my piano part. Working in their own studio, they added a violin part and posted it back as a completed track...an inspiring process and one that resulted in a song that would have been entirely different, had we each stayed within our respective circles of artistic collaborators! In addition to enabling different individual musicians like us to collaborate, Indaba Music regularly hosts contests with major artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Youssou N'Dour, John Legend, and Mariah Carey. FOUNDING A WORKING GROUP Once on the site, I founded a group called "Peace Partners". Our mission was simple: gather as many artists as possible, ranging from amateurs to professionals, across genres, and develop an album together that would not only promote the ideals of peace and freedom through music, but also would foster International collaborations as part of this process. Today we number over 230 members from around the world - all with distinct musical backgrounds, each with his or her own style and unique cultural experiences. The project centers on the idea that artists - both professionals and unknown talent - want to and can affect the world through their music. Peace Partners provides a forum to discuss, debate and produce accessible, popular music that inspires individual action and a broader recognition of the need for change. ESTABLISHING A CLEAR & POSITIVE GOAL Our intent is to sell these songs online, as well as produce and distribute a CD, donating all proceeds to organizations that demonstrably improve this world we all share. Amnistie Internationale Canada francophone and War Child Canada have already signed on as part of the Peace Partners project. Reflective of our intent, it has been proposed that we submit the album to the United Nations, as a testimony to the hope that continues to exist in the world. The objective of the project is as much about the process as it is the end result. This type of online musical collaboration has created opportunities to interact with others that never would have occurred otherwise. Only the music counts here. In the case of Peace Partners, however, that music charts the way to peace. GATHERING AN EXPERIENCED TEAM To accomplish our goals, we have gathered a small group of producers who are committed to working together to develop this album. Each brings unique skills and valuable experience to the album. We are enormously lucky to have the support of Mantis Evar, one of the founders of Indaba Music, on this project. Mr. Evar spent 18 years as an engineer and producer at Blue Note Records and is a talented performer in his own right, having played as bassist alongside great artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn. Jack Nimersheim as been involved since day-one in the Peace Partners project. Jack is a fabulous sound engineer. He also has worked a lot as a session coach, along the way, helping our artists advance their music from initial idea to completed song, within this collaboration environment. There are so many people who have contributed to the success of this project, it's impossible to list each of them; but I'm grateful to all of them. From the first day, I told people, “I have an idea but it can only be possible with your participation and support.” The response was way beyond my imagination and I would like to thank all our members for their contribution to make this world a better one. In Peace and Freedom... Pat