Give people a chance

November 03, 2014

By Wally Gordon

Nov. 1 was Day of the Dead but in Albuquerque it was an exceptional day of life. What made the day was a unique musical gathering called OneBeat. The performance Saturday night was a rare conjunction of time, place and people, an occasion to be not only remembered but treasured.

Some 25 young musicians from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australia and North America joined to produce some three hours of music that blended a wide range of genres, traditions, styles and instruments into an evening that was a celebration—of youth, of international collaboration and harmony, most of all of music that can stir our souls and ignite our passions like nothing else on earth. The frantic drumming of a young man from Zimbabwe and the soaring soprano of young woman from Indonesia created a spirit in the ghostly lit, high ceilinged, abandoned old railroad station that brought the audience to its feet.

This vast old railroad station just south of downtown Albuquerque, is an extraordinary venue that this year has just begun to return to life after years of dormancy and neglect.

A dozen innovative art projects were scattered around the floor of the station while at the rear young musicians sang and played their hearts out. In between stood and sat a throng of perhaps a thousand New Mexicans of all ages and types. Elderly couples danced and toddlers clapped.

Politics was not the purpose or portent of this event, but a political message was always in the background: Give people a chance to communicate, to understand each other and live with each other, and they will. A Ukrainian and a Russian stood side by side, as did a Cuban and an American. What united them was stronger than what divided their governments.

(Photos by Benito Aragon)

This piece was written by:

Wally Gordon

Wally Gordon, who was for 12 years owner and editor of The Independent in Edgewood, began his career with three summer jobs at The New York Times while he was a student at Brown University. He spent a decade with the Baltimore Sun, including stints as national investigative reporter and Washington Bureau manager. He has freelanced or been a staff writer and editor for dozens of newspapers and magazines all over the United States.

Extensive travels have taken him to all 50 states and more than 60 foreign countries. He wrote a novel in Spain, edited a newspaper in American Samoa, served in the U.S. Army in Iran and taught for two years at a university in West Africa.

He is the author of A Reporter's World: Passions, Places and People. The new nonfiction book is a collection of essays, columns, and magazine and newspaper stories published during his journalistic career spanning more than half a century. Many of the pieces were first published in The Independent or in other New Mexico newspapers and magazines. The book includes profiles of the famous, the infamous and the anonymous, travel and adventure yarns, and essays on the major issues and emotions of our times.

A native of Atlanta, he has lived in New Mexico since 1978 and in the East Mountains since 1990. He has been married for 28 years to Thelma Bowles, a native New Mexican who is a photographer and French teacher. They have one son, Sergei.