It was a musical odyssey around the world. The veteran country and western group the Colwell Brothers from California, now in their seventies, had last performed in Caux, Switzerland, in 1961. Their first visit to the 'home for the world', as the Initiatives of Change centre in Caux was described, had been in 1953. Now they were back, with composer, pianist and xylophone player Herbie Allen, to give a barnstorming performance before a packed international audience in Caux's main hall on 14 August.

Many in the audience had not been born at the time of the Colwell Brothers' last visit. Yet they took the musicians to their hearts, won by the sheer vitality and versatility of the three brothers, Steve (lead and rhythm guitar), Paul (lead guitar, mandolin and banjo) and Ralph (bass guitar), and joined by their physician brother Ted on rhythm guitar.

The two-hour show began with classic country and western and bluegrass songs from the Appalachian Mountains. They sang Mr Bojangles and the theme song from the Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? Their musical journey took their audience to Europe, Africa, the Far East, and Latin America. They sang in French and Italian, in the Xhosa language of Southern Africa, and a national song of the Congo in French which they had written at the time of Independence. They sang in the Bengali of Calcutta, in Japanese, in the Maori of New Zealand, in the Spanish of Mexico, before returning to their country and western and bluegrass roots of the USA.

Accompanied on drums by Gib Dammann from Washington State, they were also joined on stage by Swiss soprano Sylvie Soderlund, and by flautist Amica Sciortino Nowlan from the UK. For a couple of numbers they were joined by Swiss vocalist Laura Curau in one of their most moving show stoppers, a Song for Sarajevo, about a young couple known as the Romeo and Juliet of Sarajevo, shot and killed in each other's arms as they fled the war-torn city during the Balkans War. Laura Curau had been in the cast of the American show Up With People.

It was perhaps appropriate that earlier in the day, journalists and media professionals in Caux had gathered on the centre's terrace to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Sarajevo Commitment www.icforum.org/sarajevo-commitment, an international code of best practice for media professionals launched in the Bosnian capital in 2000. And still the Balkans seeks healing from the painful past during war crimes trials that continue.

One of the final songs of the evening brought the audience to its feet: the title song from Up With People, the touring company of which the Colwell Brothers and Herbie Allen were the musical founders in the 1960s and which, still going strong, has involved over 20,000 young people from 35 countries. For this rousing song and another from the show, What colour is God's skin?, some 30 people were on the stage as the Colwells were joined by Up With People alumni.

'Whether to play to bee or not to play bee?' quipped Herbie Allen, who had first met the Colwell Brothers in Caux in 1953 and went on to be the Up With People musical director. He gave a dazzling performance of The Flight of the Bumblebee on the xylophone. The audience, now on its feet, were calling for more. The Brothers rounded off the evening with an old favourite, Morgan's poisoned the waterhole, followed by a dazzling final instrumental number.

One of the white-haired brothers joked that it was beyond their bed time; they could have played all night. Their music was the international language of the heart and young and old in the audience were moved. The evening, hosted by their long-standing Dutch friend Maarten de Pous, had been billed as 'A Song for the World'. They had sung songs from around the world and the representatives of the 40 countries gathered in Caux took the Colwell Brothers and Herbie Allen to their hearts.

Their book A Song for the World, which tells their story, and CDs of their music were sold afterwards. Both CDs and the book can be ordered via their web site: www.asongfortheworld.com

• A DVD is being made of their concert. Watch this space for costs and ordering details and addresses.

>> View and download pictures of the concert