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Mickey Hart / Zakir Hussain
Global Drum Project
(Shout! Factory)
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2007, Volume 14, #11
Written by John Metzger
Thu November 1, 2007, 06:40 AM CDT
There are many reasons why the Grateful Dead functioned so well as a unit,
not the least of which is the fact that, musically speaking, its members never
were forced to curtail their personalities or kowtow to the group’s dynamics.
Instead, their individualism was left intact, where it could roam freely within
the larger, nearly boundary-less framework provided by the ensemble.
Consequently, the give-and-take among the musicians — as they built, in
real-time, a consensus for their ideas — created a tension-and-release mechanism
within the Grateful Dead’s output that allowed its songs to become living,
breathing organisms that could react and adapt to their surroundings.
Like most rock bands, drum solos consistently were a part of the Grateful
Dead’s repertoire. Over the years, however, the collective’s forays evolved away
from the furious, crash-and-burn displays in which most outfits seem to revel.
Instead, they assumed more subtle, worldly shadings. Although drummer Bill
Kreutzmann was the ensemble’s metronomic force, capable of propelling its songs
across the mountains and over the chasms of the vast terrain that it explored,
percussionist Mickey Hart was its secret weapon. In fact, the closer that the
Grateful Dead came to the end of its journey, the more the meditative interludes
sparked by Hart served as the highlights to the outfit’s increasingly
hit-and-miss concerts.
Over the years, Hart’s insatiable desire to learn as much as he could about
the spiritual and cultural aspects of percussion developed into a cottage
industry. Spiraling outward from his initial collaboration in 1974 with Zakir
Hussain in the Diga Rhythm Band, Hart since has traveled the world, searching
for sounds to fuel his personal quest and guide him on his solo projects. Along
the way, he also authored four books on the subject (Drumming at the Edge of
Magic, Planet Drum, Spirit into Sound: The Magic of Music, and
Songcatchers: In Search of the World’s Music), established a series of
archival field recordings, and founded The Endangered Music Fund.
In crafting his latest effort Global Drum Project, Hart reunited
several of the principal members that had appeared on Planet Drum, his
Grammy-winning endeavor from 1991. In addition to Hussain, both Giovanni Hidalgo
and Sikiru Adepoju perform on the new album, and by utilizing a sample of his
voice, Babatunde Olatunji also rejoins the collective on the appropriately
titled Baba. Global Drum Project is not, however, a simple reprise
of Hart’s earlier work. Instead, it is an extension of every outing he has made.
As such, it is as informed by the linguistic and technological aspects of Supralingua as it is by the earthy, rhythmic sojourns that filled Diga
Rhythm Band.
Throughout Global Drum Project, Hart and his entourage create a
world-spanning parade of pulsating grooves that incessantly percolate, vibrate,
and tug at the heart and soul. The rhythms are mesmerizing and hypnotic, and
they flow like water. Consequently, the album’s eight tracks effortlessly tumble
from one into the next. As the beats ebb and flow, the ensemble plays with the
fabric of space and time, expanding and contracting it, dividing it into smaller
segments that are filled with interlocking patterns. The approach is inherently
mathematical, yet it also is undeniably organic.
Digital technology has advanced considerably in the eight years that have
passed since Hart issued Supralingua, and in what could be viewed as a
reflection of the world’s computerized infrastructure, Global Drum Project’s
contents are genetic hybrids in which pure, manmade sounds are united with those
that have been sampled and enhanced with effects. The vocals, in particular, are
processed until they become psychedelic vapor trails that waft across the faces
of the songs, such as the strangely seductive Under One Groove and the
eerily haunting I Can Tell You More. In effect, Hart, Hussain, Adepoju,
and Hidalgo weave a sonic tapestry that depicts the essence of life on Earth in
the modern age.
Without actual lyrics, Global Drum Project’s overarching message
becomes largely subjective. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to miss the underlying
pleas and prayers that drive the socio-political machinations of tracks like Under One Groove. Similarly, Heartspace, with its violin-like cries
as well as its blend of Israeli, Arabic, and Greek cultures seems to speak of
the world’s war-torn facade, while Baba oscillates between tropical and
African textures, thus sounding as much like an offshoot of Hart’s past projects
as it does the polyrhythmic forays of the Talking Heads. Taken in full, the
music on Global Drum Project plunges into the darkness and illuminates it
from within. As with Hart’s past pursuits, the set inevitably becomes a
consciousness-raising excursion that is filled with hope and healing. 
51st Annual Grammy Award Winner:
Best Contemporary World Music Album
Global Drum Project is available from
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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