On February 27, Jason Mraz, joined by Bushwalla, The Makepeace Brothers and Timmy Curran performed at the benefit concert, Cord Progression, in Long Beach, California to benefit the charity, Life Rolls On. The concert also served as a birthday celebration for Jesse Billauer, who created the Life Rolls On Foundation after becoming a quadriplegic in a surfing accident.
See slideshow from the concert below
During the show, a video was shown of Jason Mraz and Jesse Billauer discussing their mutual admiration for each other. Jason Mraz tells Jesse: “I’m continually inspired by the work you do and the way you present yourself… it really is inspiring, so keep it up.”
Billauer explained how music played a huge role in his recovery because it has the power to "change your whole mood." Later on stage, Billauer, who calls himself a friend and a fan of Mraz's, explained, "Music is one of the biggest influences in my life and I think music changes the world."
Jason Mraz, who is currently on a break from touring, had various musicians step in as his backing band throughout his performance. Mraz opened his set with an unreleased song called "A Way To Remember Me". He played piano for that number and then returned to his familiar frontman position standing at the microphone playing his guitar for the remainder of the night.
Other surprises from Mraz included a brand new song inspired by his mother, "What Mama Say" (with lyrics like "You better listen to your mama" and “Give you all my loving and make you a mama, too”) and the new song "Gentleman". Jason was joined by Alysse Fischer for the duet for "Lucky" and he later turned the stage over to Michael and Nancy Natter as they sang "Spanish Pipedream". The Natters co-wrote Jason's "Song of Love" called "Love Is All Around (Quote Christian)" a special song written for cancer patient, Christian Burns.
In-between musical performances, Jesse Billauer, founder of Life Rolls On and motivational speaker, spoke to the audience about the work his foundation does including the "They Will Surf Again" (TWSA) program which enables people with disabilities to surf, with the help of volunteers. A similar program is planned for skateboarding.
In 1996, when Jesse was in the hospital recovering from his surfing accident at the age of 17, he received an inspiring call from Christopher Reeve. He described how Christopher Reeve, the face of spinal cord injury at the time, urged him to stay positive and assured him that everything would be all right. He credits Reeve for inspiring him to get out in the public and do whatever he could for people with disabilities. This year, Life Rolls On merged with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to become even more powerful in promoting spinal cord injury awareness.
At the end of the evening, friends and family of Jesse Billauer joined Jesse and Jason Mraz onstage as several of the artists sang songs they wrote for the Life Rolls On Foundation, some of which were featured in the documentary, Jesse's Story. Singer Dawn Mitschele sang "Good Morning" and then Life Rolls On tributes followed by Timmy Curran ("Life Rolls On"), The Makepeace Brothers ("Life Keeps Rolling On") and Jason Mraz ("Life Rolls On").
Billed as "a night of music in support of Jesse Billauer's motivational speaking tour", Billauer inspired the crowd with his down-to-earth, brutally honest message:
“A lot of people tell me if they were in my position they would rather be dead, they don’t think they could do what I do… but until you’re put into a situation like this you never know how you’re gonna handle it. Luckily I have a lot of good friends and family and great music.
"Life’s tough, life’s not that easy, you just got to make the most of it. I always tell people to always have something to look forward to – whether it’s the weather, it’s gonna be nice and sunny or you’re gonna go to a concert – just always have something to look forward to because without that, life really has no meaning."
For more information, visit http://www.jessebillauer.com and www.liferollson.org.
Watch the trailer for Jesse's Story at http://www.jessesstory.com/
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