The Global Drum Project's Hart Beats
Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain began the Global Drum Project show Wednesday night at Manhattan's Highland Ballroom by beating on a squid and twin dolphins. The former Grateful Dead drummer and the Indian percussion guru thumped and slapped the sea creatures— in reality two miked pieces of evocatively shaped old-growth redwood from Sonoma County, Calif.—with fingers, hands, sticks, and a broom. The duo, who have been drumming together on various Hart projects since 1974, were here as members of Hart's latest world-class drum ensemble alongside Latin percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, from Puerto Rico, "talking" drummer Sikiru Adepoju, from Nigeria, and electronics wizard Jonah Sharp, from Scotland. Rather than highlighting the drummers' various styles through extended soloing, the Global Drum Project seeks common rhythmic ground onstage, and on their languorous new album.
No, there was nary a drum solo to be heard during the course of an evening that often resembled a Grateful Dead parking-lot drum circle—only with really good drummers. Ambient electronics usually established a continually shifting pulse the four drummers multiplied and divided as a group or in genially jousting pairs. Hussain maintained a flow of complex new patterns on his tablas, Hidalgo added dramatic accents on congas, and Adepoju provided constant commentary through the shifting pitches of his talking drum. The sounds of a Papua, New Guinea rainforest, a New York City salsa session, an Indian raga, or a Nigerian dance party all became part of a glorious, percussive polyglot. And it was pretty cool. The Global Drum Project tour continues Saturday night at the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts in East Lansing, Mich.
Comments
Joe Skunca says:
Hey Richard,
It put me in a great trance. I responded to your Mclaughlin post re this before I read this.
Thanks for all your wonderful writings
Joe Skunca
10/23/07 10:51 PM