Looking for an easy way to support music education in New Orleans? For the next week, American Express will donate $1 to Best of the Beat Music Education Award winner Roots of Music for every person who views R&B singer Raphael Saadiq’s video “Backstage Pass”.

Photo by Elsa Hahne

In the video, Saadiq visits New Orleans and talks to some of the kids in the Roots of Music band. Roots, led by Rebirth Brass Band drummer Derrick Tabb, is an extracurricular program that gives kids from some of New Orleans’ most dangerous neighborhoods a safe place to learn music in a marching band setting. It currently serves over one hundred kids. Programs like Roots of Music have assumed great importance in recent years as budget cutbacks force more and more New Orleans schools to eliminate their music programs.

There are 47,023 views as of this posting. Here’s that link again.