Planet Drum with Mickey Hart,
Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo
Saturday, September 23 • 8pm
$80
$60
$47
$37
$25
“[Hart is] one of the most influential champions
of world music.” —San Francisco Chronicle
In this pre-Festival special event, Grateful Dead drummer and
world-music alchemist Mickey Hart brings the latest edition of
his Grammy-winning, borders-busting percussion showcase, Planet
Drum, to SF for one night only. Featuring far-flung percussion
virtuosos like Indian tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain
and conga maestro Giovanni Hidalgo, this latest
incarnation of Planet Drum builds on the legacy of the group that
won 1991’s first-ever “Best World Music Album”
Grammy Award (for the self-titled record that held the #1 spot
on Billboard’s World Music chart for 26 straight
weeks).
Personnel:
- Mickey Hart, percussion
- Zakir Hussain, tabla
- Sikiru Adepoju, talking drum
- Giovanni Hidalgo, congas
Program Notes
The first Planet Drum album, released in 1991, spent 26 weeks
atop the billboard World Music chart. It also won the first ever “Best
World Music Album” Grammy. To celebrate the 15th anniversary
of his groundbreaking ensemble, Mickey Hart leads an all new
edition of Planet Drum in a Festival Preview Concert.
Hart has
a long history of percussion innovation, both as a drummer for
the Grateful Dead and through his work as an ethno-musicologist.
When he’s not keeping the beat for his many side projects
(including The Other Ones, Bembe Orisha, and the Rhythm Devils),
Hart is an influential political and social activist.
Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain first recorded with Hart on
the drummer’s 1972 album Rolling Thunder. Continuing
his impressive string of cross-cultural collaborations, which
include dates with John McLaughlin (and Shakti), Pharoah Sanders,
Van Morrison, and Billy Cobham, Hussain will appear at the Festival
November 3 with Charles Lloyd and SFJAZZ Collective drummer Eric
Harland.
Giovanni Hidalgo is one of the world’s most acclaimed congueros.
His early work with Eddie Palmieri caught the attention of Dizzy
Gillespie, who hired Hidalgo for his United Nations Jazz Orchestra.
Since then, the Puerto Rican native has taught percussion at
Berklee College of Music, and toured the country with jazz great
Art Blakey, as well as the Conga Kings.
Another longtime Hart
collaborator, talking drum virtuoso Sikiru Adepoju performs in
Planet Drum, Bembe Orisha, and the Rhythm Devils. On his first
visit to America in 1985, he joined Nigerian the Drums of Passion
ensemble of percussion master Babatunde Olatunji (who worked
with John Coltrane, among others). His latest project is Afrika
Heartbeat, a celebration of Yoruba culture with steel pan wizard
Val Serrant.
