Change Begins Within: A Benefit Concert for the David Lynch Foundation

The David Lynch Foundation isn't about movies or music, but rather transcendental meditation (TM), the practice that fuels Lynch's creative endeavors. The foundation's goal, he explains, is "to teach one million kids transcendental meditation all around the world." For this 2009 benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, Lynch and Laura Dern, who most recently collaborated on Twin Peaks: The Return, serve as hosts. Bettye Lavette sings the rousing opener "Trouble So Hard/Natural Blues," featuring Moby on guitar, a youth choir, and a full orchestra. Crowd-pleasing performances from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr combine Beatles songs with solo hits such as "It Don't Come Easy" and "Jet." Other notable performances include Sheryl Crow's version of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" with Ben Harper on slide guitar, Donovan and My Morning Jacket singer Jim James on "Hurdy Gurdy Man," and Eddie Vedder's solo ukulele rendition of "Rise." Vedder's duet with Harper on David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" earns an enthusiastic response from the crowd, but it's really hard to top the original. The one non-musical performer, Jerry Seinfeld, serves up a not especially funny routine about messy theaters, hands-free culture, and other concerns that don't have much bearing on the cause at hand, although he does say that he's been practicing TM for 37 years. For the finale of this 18-song concert, the performers—including Beach Boy Mike Love and flutist Paul Horn—sing McCartney's "Cosmically Conscious." Presented in Dolby Digital stereo, extras include a featurette in which Lynch interviews some of the artists about their musical backgrounds and connections to TM. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)