MICKEY HART GETS HELP FROM JERRY GARCIA FOR SPRING RE-RELEASES

Mickey Hart, who made a name for himself with The Grateful Dead, will be re-releasing his drum recordings via Shout Factory records, and late Dead icon Jerry Garcia makes an appearance on one of the recordings. Hart will release Planet Drum and Diga Rhythm Band on March 18, and the latter release features the guitar work of Garcia on two songs. The other three, At The Edge, Supralingua, and Mickey Hart’s Mystery Box will hit stores April 15.

Hart said that along with the recently released Global Drum Project album, there’s a perfect six-pack for fans.

“Shout Factory has put out the Global Drum Project CD, and they’re putting out five others of our percussion works, Zakhir and myself. Mystery Box, the orginal Planet Drum, these will all be available at the turn of the year. That’ll be a six-pack. And then we’ll be working on the next musical outpouring from the Global Drum Project, which will be more far-reaching than this, no doubt.”

Hart also talked about what he’d like to think his musical legacy is.

“I would hope my musical legacy would be that kind of portrait where we keep on painting over what we’ve done before, and I finally wind up with these masterpieces along the way. Unlike DaVinci and all the painters in the visual domain, we’re recording everything in the digital domain and on tape. So the transitions between masterpieces will be as important as the masterpiece itself. Some of our rehearsals are extraordinary. Some of our soundchecks compete with or go beyond the performance at times. So, whenever we play together it’s always recorded.”

Most of Mickey Hart’s work has come with a hand extended from Zakhir Hussain the Indian tabla virtuoso who is considered by many to be the best percussionist in the world. Hart indicated that he’ll be readying his band for festival dates this summer, but exact appearances have not been scheduled at press time.