- in Entertainment News by Mike
Joe Satriani Works With UN
JOE SATRIANI AND ROBIN DIMAGGIO TEAM UP ON ORIGINAL SONG FOR THE
PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS GALA
Song to Debut at the Annual Presidential General Assembly of the UN 69TH Session Gala on June 30th
World renowned guitarist, JOE SATRIANI and UN Musical Director ROBIN DIMAGGIO, have teamed up to compose and produce a new song entitled, “Music Without Words” to be unveiled at the June 30th Annual Presidential General Assembly of the UN 69th Session Gala in New York City. The Assembly and Gala feature world dignitaries as well as the Heads of States from nations across the globe. Accompanying the song will be a video, compiled by the UN, featuring footage of people the world over.
The song was co-written by the two exclusively for this event and produced by DiMaggio as the UN Musical Director. On his collaboration with SATRIANI, DiMaggio stated “Working with Joe has brought a new meaning to music, this masterpiece was a collaboration of elegance and prestige. This unforgettable melody is for all the human beings in sync with enlightenment and peace.”
A meeting between these two iconic musicians first took place when Robin, as musical director for the Arsenio Hall Show, asked SATRIANI to sit in with his band last fall. A friendship sparked between the two and discussions of collaborating for the UN, began. Fast forward to June 30th when the piece will debut at the UN Assembly. “Robin came to me with a beautiful challenge,” SATRIANI says, “to create a melody that would touch the hearts of six billion people, a call to humanity, a message of love. He sent me an awesome groove to get the ball rolling, I sent him back a melody, and we kept the collaboration going until we were both blown away. I’m thrilled with the final mix and can’t wait for people to hear it.”
The song also features vocals from Ms Monet, a Grammy-award winning vocalist, songwriter and performer who has sung with everyone from Boz Scaggs to Faith Hill, Toto and Queen Latifah. It was DiMaggio’s decision, to blend the beauty of Ms Monet’s vocals with SATRIANI‘s guitar to create such an incredibly moving piece.
SATRIANI is currently readying his 15th solo album, “Shockwave Supernova” for release on July 24th. SATRIANI is the world’s most commercially successful solo guitar performer, with six gold and platinum discs to his credit (including one more gold award for the debut album by his band Chickenfoot), and sales in excess of 10 million copies. The critically acclaimed guitarist also has 15 Grammy nominations for songs such as “Always With Me, Always With You,” “The Crush Of Love,” and “Summer Song,” as well as full albums like Surfing With The Alien, The Extremist and Super Colossal.
Robin DiMaggio is a musical force to be reckoned with. Known as one of the world’s premiere drummers and classical/world percussionists, Robin is also a highly skilled songwriter, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, engineer, and instrumentalist. He has toured and recorded with veterans such as Paul Simon, David Bowie, Jackson Browne, Diana Ross, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Luther Vandross, Lil Jon, Martina McBride, Daft Punk, Johnny Cash, and Chris Isaak, as well as with acclaimed world musicians, sitarist/composer Ravi Shankar and violin maestro L. Shankar. He has also appeared on David Letterman and has performed at the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, and the MTV Music Awards, and was Musical Director and drummer for late-night TV’s Arsenio Hall Show on CBS Syndication, and TBS’ Lopez Tonight, hosted by George Lopez. Having traveled extensively from an early age, Robin’s music incorporates rhythms and sounds from diverse cultures throughout the world. The vast array of influences in Robin’s life have made him a charismatic ambassador of the arts. For the fifth straight year, Robin has been assigned the returning position of Music Director for the United Nations, where one of his many responsibilities includes coordinating musical guests for the official General Assembly Summit in New York City each September at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria. Robin produced former Eagles guitarist Don Felder’s 2012 album, Road to Forever, and Stephen Bishop’s 2014 release, Be Here Then. Robin has some incredible projects in the works, as he is in the preliminary stages of his new vision — the first U.N. School of Art, Culture and Music in Southern California.