For Hart, the GLOBAL DRUM PROJECT is an opportunity to take Planet Drum into new places. Through elegant electronic programming and hypnotic tuned percussion this new collaboration provides a more tranced-out experience that is distinct and masterfully produced by Hart and Hussain.
This partnering marks the resumption of an artistic relationship, which goes back to the late 1960s. At that time, Hart met Hussain's father, Allah Rakha (Ravi Shankar's tabla player), and became his part-time student, bringing Indian percussion ideas to rock and roll. In the 1970s, Allah Rakha gave Hart what he called his greatest gift - his son, Zakir Hussain, who went on to succeed his father as the world's preeminent tabla player.
In 1976, Hart and Hussain's musical relationship emerged into the public eye with the Diga Rhythm Band, a collaboration of percussionists that was, Hart said, an American version of a gamelan. After opening for a Jefferson Starship concert at San Francisco's famed Winterland, they recorded Diga, out of which evolved the tune “Fire on the Mountain," a staple for the Dead, Other Ones, and Planet Drum.
By the late '70s, Hart's investigation into the sociocultural history of percussion resulted in two books - a memoir, Drumming At the Edge of Magic, and then a pictorial history, Planet Drum. Alongside the book came the CD, and perhaps the greatest summit meeting of percussionists the world has ever known. All of them were legendary.
Tickets are $33.50 and $26.50 and can be ordered online @ www.keswicktheatre.com, via 24-Hr. Phone-Charge (215-572-7650), and in person at the Keswick box office Mondays through Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM. The Keswick is located at 291 Keswick Ave., Glenside, PA.
October 22, 2007 @ 7:30pm
Keswick Theatre
291 N. Keswick Ave.
Glenside, PA 19038
(phone) 215-572-7650
For more information contact All About Jazz.
