Mickey Hart
(born Michael Steven Hartman
on September 11, 1943) is a percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann earned the nickname "the rhythm devils".
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MICKEY HART TICKETS
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Career
Before joining the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart and his father,
Leonard Hart, a champion rudimental drummer, owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in
San Carlos, California.
Hart joined the Grateful Dead in
September 1967, and left in
February 1971. During his sabbatical, in 1972, he recorded the album
Rolling Thunder
. He returned to the Dead in 1974, and remained with the group until their official dissolution in 1995. Collaboration with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead continues, under the band name
The Dead.
Alongside his work with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart has flourished as a solo artist, percussionist, and the author of several books. In these endeavors he has pursued a lifelong interest in ethnomusicology and in world music. His travels and his interest in all things percussion-related led him to collect percussion instruments, and to collaborate with percussion masters the world over.
Hart became interested in percussion as a grade-school student. Nigerian drummer
Babatunde Olatunji performed at schools around the country in the late 1950s and had the students try out the drums. Hart had been one of those students and he never forgot the experience. Olatunji later taught Hart and collaborated with Hart and the Grateful Dead on a regular basis.
[1]
Hart was influential in recording global musical traditions on the verge of possible extinction, working with archivists and ethnomusicologists at both the
American Folklife Center at the
Library of Congress, and the
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the
Smithsonian Institution. He is on the Board of Trustees of the
American Folklife Center and has been a spokesperson for the
Save Our Sounds audio preservation initiative. He also serves on the Library of Congress National Recorded Sound Preservation Board and is known for reissues and other recordings with historical and cultural value.
In 1991, Hart produced the album
Planet Drum
, which remained at #1 on the
Billboard
World Music Chart for 26 weeks,
[2] and received the first ever
Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.
[3].
Mickey Hart has written books on the history and traditions of drumming throughout history. His solo recordings (featuring a variety of guest musicians) are percussive of course, but also verge on
New Age music categorically. His enthusiasm for
world music traditions and preservation and collaborative efforts is comparable to that of
guitarist Ry Cooder.
In 2000, Mickey Hart became a member of the Board of Directors of the
Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to seek to establish new knowledge and develop more effective therapies which awaken, stimulate and heal through the extraordinary power of music
[4] -- continuing his investigation into the connection between healing and rhythm, and the neural basis of rhythm. In 2003, he was honored with the organization’s Music Has Power Award, recognizing his advocacy and continuous commitment to raising public awareness of the positive effect of music
[5].
Hart was also a judge for the 3rd annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
[6]
After the death of
Jerry Garcia and the consequent dissolution of the Grateful Dead in 1995, Hart continued to play music with various groups including members of the Grateful Dead. In the 1996
Furthur Festival, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box played, as did
Bob Weir's band
Ratdog.
In 2005, Hart and the members of the band
Particle joined to create the Hydra Project.
During 2006, Hart teamed up with fellow Grateful Dead bandmate Bill Kreutzmann,
Phish bassist
Mike Gordon and former
The Other Ones lead guitarist
Steve Kimock, to form the
Rhythm Devils, a nickname that refers to Hart and Kreutzmann's legendary drum solos and improvisation. The band features songs from their respective repertoires as well as new songs written by Jerry Garcia's songwriting companion
Robert Hunter. The Rhythm Devils announced their first tour in 2006, which ended at the popular
Vegoose festival in
Las Vegas, Nevada over the
Halloween weekend.
In June and July 2008, Hart led the Mickey Hart Band on a U.S. concert tour. The band consists of Hart,
Steve Kimock on guitar and
pedal steel guitar,
George Porter, Jr. on bass,
Kyle Hollingsworth on keyboards,
Sikiru Adepoju on
talking drum, Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums, and Jen Durkin on vocals.
[7] [8] [9]
Personal Life
Hart, like band mate Bob Weir, is reported to be a member of the
Bohemian Club and has attended and performed at the secretive club's annual
bacchanal at the
Bohemian Grove.
[10]
Bibliography
- Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm
(1991)
- Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion
(1998)
- Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music
(2003)
- Spirit into Sound: The Magic of Music
(2006)
Solo discography
- Rolling Thunder
(1972) – Mickey Hart
- Diga
(1976) – Diga Rhythm Band
- The Rhythm Devils Play River Music
(1980) – The Rhythm Devils
- Däfos
(1983) – Mickey Hart, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim
- Yamantaka
(1983) – Mickey Hart, Henry Wolff, Nancy Hennings
- Music to be Born By
(1989) – Mickey Hart
- At the Edge
(1990) – Mickey Hart
- Planet Drum
(1991) – Mickey Hart
- The Apocalypse Now Sessions
(1991) – The Rhythm Devils
- Mickey Hart's Mystery Box
(1996) – Mickey Hart
- Supralingua
(1998) – Mickey Hart
- Spirit into Sound
(2000) – Mickey Hart
- The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back
(2002) – Mickey Hart
- Global Drum Project
(2007) – Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo
- The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience
(2008 – DVD) – The Rhythm Devils
Notes
- African Music Encyclopedia
- Smith, E. "Doc". "Planet Drum Comes to the Masonic", BeyondChron, September 22, 2006
- "The Grammy Winners", ''New York Times'', February 27, 1992
- Mission of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
- Past Music Has Power Awards Honorees
- Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
- Graff, Gary. "Hart: The Dead Happy To Rock Again For Obama", ''Billboard'', July 1, 2008
- Pizek, Jeff. "Mickey Hart: Unity, Healing through the Beat", ''Daily Herald'', July 4, 2008
- Kilgore, Kym. "Mickey Hart Band Drums Up US Tour", ''Live Daily'', May 23, 2008
- http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/21/local/me-bohemian21
References
- African Music Encyclopedia
- Smith, E. "Doc". "Planet Drum Comes to the Masonic", BeyondChron, September 22, 2006
- "The Grammy Winners", ''New York Times'', February 27, 1992
- Mission of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
- Past Music Has Power Awards Honorees
- Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
- Graff, Gary. "Hart: The Dead Happy To Rock Again For Obama", ''Billboard'', July 1, 2008
- Pizek, Jeff. "Mickey Hart: Unity, Healing through the Beat", ''Daily Herald'', July 4, 2008
- Kilgore, Kym. "Mickey Hart Band Drums Up US Tour", ''Live Daily'', May 23, 2008
- http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/21/local/me-bohemian21