peace through music

Make sure you take the time to listen to this. It is brilliant! Makes me smile. 

Read more about playing for change on their website. 

mixing it up

Every now and then it is good to mix things up and offer a little spice to life! Our dear friend has done just that with the utterly genious make me a mix tape. It is truly a joy and not just because you can whittle away hours of "meant to be at work time" listening to her fav tracks but you will always, without a doubt come away with a smile on your dial!

However, we must ask her forgiveness for not mentioning this earlier! In fact I have been meaning to tell everyone of this ladies talents for a while now but have been too busy trying to get through hours of her mixing madness that I haven't had a chance!

I am listening to the latest mix now and I can highly recommend it! Love your work Miss Katie Dazzle x

one love

Hey there, check this out! 

You can read more about the foundation behind this initiative and see the making of the documentary at 'Playing for Change: Peace Through Music' 

One love people!  

bricks + cartwheels gala dinner 2008

went off with a bang! We were amazed, excited and overwhelmed with how well the inaugural bricks + cartwheels gala dinner went last Saturday night.

After spending the day organising setting up and generally running around 260 guests arrived at the Red Box in Lilyfield to the sounds and beats of exotic african music. The evening kicked off with Drum Beats leading everyone in a group drumming sesison and conga line. The evening was hosted by the amazing Liz Jackson, 5 time Walkley award winner and ABC journalist.

The food was great, the wine flowed and the speeches by Sam Crawford and Linda Hume were inspiring. The bricks + cartwheels team updated everyone on the Katolo school project and Kimberly's little film was a heart breaker! There was even a special guest appearance by one of Australia's musical treasures..... Kamahl!

Throughout the evening guests bid on silent auction items, bought up big on raffle tickets and cleaned out the goody bag stash. The live auction was a HUGE success, and was excellent entertainment for all in the Red Box! The night ended with everyone having a big boogy on the dance floor!
The Gala Dinner raised $37,000.00 for the Katolo Secondary School for girls, which completes the fundraising for stage one of the project. The bricks + cartwheels helpers were amazing, a huge thank you goes out to all you lovely people! This is a major milestone for bricks + cartwheels and the community of Katolo!

afro funk @ cafe lounge - November 9

The lovely Kimberley, who is coming to Kenya with us in January to film our progress, has organised this awesome event to be held this Sunday, 9th November from 3pm til 9pm!

So bring your AFRO WIG and AFRICAN STYLE and join us for an AFRICAN INSPIRED event at one of our favourite places, the unique Cafe Lounge. There will be amazing food and cocktails too...

The Lounge Funk DJs - Louis Love, JRDynamite and Mr Rick are gearing up for summer to help RAISE THE ROOF for the bricks + cartwheels Katolo Project. Ariella pictures invites you personally to get down and funky and show your support (and throw your hands in the air) for a good cause.

There will be a fun raffle on the night!! Prizes include: ipod shuffle, jb hi fi vouchers, facial - supplied by The Beauty Room, wine + more... Be there!!

There is a $10 Donation. The b+c team will be there with bells on!!

music. consciousness. action

Michael Franti featured on triple j today and what a cool dude he is! As Andrew Denton describes him in an Enough Rope interview - “In a pop world dominated by pipe-cleaner bimbos and testosterone-addled rock idiots, every now and then an act of class and substance creeps underneath the wire.”

A rebel with a cause, one of Michael’s many ventures is the Power to the Peaceful Festival. The mission of this festival is to bring people together through music and art to highlight the similarities and celebrate the diversity of all of the world’s inhabitants. It is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organisation dedicated to the promotion of cultural co-existence, non-violence and environmental sustainability through the arts and music. It has already been on this year BUT good news is, he has announced he is heading to Tanzania to stage a festival in February next year in a bid to combat ethnic tensions in the country. Not only will he will document this journey, he has been travelling the world, asking people what it means to be human to compile his long-term documentary called Stay Human.

This excerpt from Franti sums up his passion for justice perfectly: I feel like right now is an opportunity, because in a time of great turmoil comes opportunity for great change. And so all of us, no matter where we are as musicians, as people sitting around the water cooler at work or amongst our families or school teachers or whoever, we all have a position to play in the world right now in determining the direction that the world is going to go. And things are going to change regardless, but we need to make sure that, as Martin Luther King has said, that peace is not merely the absence of war, but it's the presence of justice.

His latest album All Rebel Rockers is out now and in the words of the man himself "It's easy to pick up a newspaper and get frustrated and be like, 'Man, this world is just going to hell.' But I wanted to make a record that made people feel inspired, so they could wake up every day and be like, 'Man, I can face this day and I want to look to positivity and light.'"

I feel like I can take on the world now!

susannah stone

Susannah Stone, who recently performed at the bricks + cartwheels Orange Launch back in June this year, is now back in Nashville TN singing up a storm!

So for anyone who is in the area... make a date at The Blue Bar to see this talented singer/songwriter perform - the b+c gals know how good she is so it's only fair you do too! Visit her myspace for a demo or two.