Grammy winner Jason Mraz will be helping out charities with the formation of his Jason Mraz Foundation, which kicked off with a sold out benefit concert on December 3, 2011 at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California. The Jason Mraz Foundation will, according to the official press release, focus on “human equality, environment preservation, arts and education, and recovery and assistance.”
The organizations that will be benefiting from Mraz’ philanthropic efforts include Free The Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net), dedicated to eradicating child slavery around the world; True Colors Fund (www.truecolorsfund.org), which promotes the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality; Surfrider Foundation (www.surfrider.org), dedicated to protecting our world’s oceans, beaches, and waves; the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (www.nrdc.org), which works to protect wildlife and wild places and to ensure a healthy environment for all life on earth; youth organizations VH1 Save The Music Foundation (www.vh1savethemusic.com) and Free the Children (www.freethechildren.com); the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC) (www.sparconline.org); and the health/rehabilitation charities MusiCares® (www.musicares.org) and Life Rolls On (www.liferollson.org), dedicated to improving the quality of life for young people affected by spinal cord injury and utilizes action sports as a platform to inspire infinite possibilities despite paralysis.
Mraz and percussionist Noel “Toca” River, who also performed at the December 3rd benefit, will wrap up their 2011 tour on December 19th with another benefit performance at Richmond, Virginia’s Carpenter Theater. Proceeds from the sold-out concert will go to one of the Jason Mraz Foundation’s beneficiaries: the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC).
For more information on the Jason Mraz Foundation, visit JasonMraz.com.
More on Jason Mraz [Courtesy of Atlantic Records]:
Hailed as one of the modern era’s most gifted pop troubadours, Mraz has shared stages with Rivera for more than a decade. The two musicians first met back in 2000, when Mraz was just making his mark on the San Diego coffee house scene. Enthralled by the young songwriter’s free-flowing lyrical mastery, Rivera invited Mraz to join the eponymous trio he fronted alongside his brother Carlos.
The group hit the road, traveling California’s highways and byways together in a beat-up Winnebago, inspiring Mraz’s classic song, “Dream Life of Rand McNally.” When Carlos decided to take time off, Jason and Toca continued to collaborate as a duo, earning acclaim and passionate audience responses wherever they performed. Mraz’s guitar and vocals match beautifully with Rivera’s intuitive djembe playing, and the two maintain a long friendship and collaborative relationship, recording and touring together to this day.
Mraz has taken his musical journey from coffee houses to stadiums globally and now has two GRAMMY® Awards and six nominations to his credit. His latest album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. proved a global blockbuster, earning platinum and multi-platinum certifications in 17 countries around the world. The Mraz-penned “I’m Yours” was ASCAP’s 2010 “Song of the Year” and also holds the record for being the longest-running song in the history of the Billboard “Hot 100” chart.
A prolific songwriter, Mraz has been feted with a number of honors, including the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s esteemed “Hal David Starlight Award,” presented to gifted songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.
