Mickey Hart
Encyclopedia
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist
. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead
. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann
earned the nickname "the rhythm devils".
, a champion rudimental drummer, owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in San Carlos, California
.
Hart joined the Grateful Dead in September 1967, and left in February 1971 when he extricated himself from the band, due to conflict between band management and Mickey's father. During his sabbatical, in 1972, he recorded the album Rolling Thunder
. He returned to the Dead in 1974, and remained with the group until their official dissolution in 1995. Collaboration with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead continues, under the band name The Dead
.
Alongside his work with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart has flourished as a solo artist, percussionist, and the author of several books. In these endeavors he has pursued a lifelong interest in ethnomusicology and in world music. His travels and his interest in all things percussion-related led him to collect percussion instruments, and to collaborate with percussion masters the world over.
Hart became interested in percussion as a grade-school student. A few months out of high school he "discovered the work of Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji
". Olatunji later taught Hart and collaborated with Hart and the Grateful Dead on a regular basis.
Hart was influential in recording global musical traditions on the verge of possible extinction, working with archivists and ethnomusicologists at both the American Folklife Center
at the Library of Congress
, and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution
. He is on the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center
and has been a spokesperson for the Save Our Sounds audio preservation initiative. He also serves on the Library of Congress National Recorded Sound Preservation Board and is known for reissues and other recordings with historical and cultural value.
In 1991, Hart produced the album Planet Drum, which remained at #1 on the Billboard
World Music Chart for 26 weeks, and received the first ever Grammy Award
for Best World Music Album.
Hart has written books on the history and traditions of drumming throughout history. His solo recordings (featuring a variety of guest musicians) are percussive of course, but also verge on New Age
music categorically. His enthusiasm for world music
traditions and preservation and collaborative efforts is comparable to that of guitarist Ry Cooder
.
In 2000, Hart became a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to seek to establish new knowledge and develop more effective therapies which awaken, stimulate and heal through the extraordinary power of music – continuing his investigation into the connection between healing and rhythm, and the neural basis of rhythm. In 2003, he was honored with the organization’s Music Has Power Award, recognizing his advocacy and continuous commitment to raising public awareness of the positive effect of music.
Hart was also a judge for the 3rd annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
After the death of Jerry Garcia
and the consequent dissolution of the Grateful Dead in 1995, Hart continued to play music with various groups including members of the Grateful Dead. In the 1996 Furthur Festival, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box played, as did Bob Weir
's band Ratdog
.
In 2005, Hart and the members of the band Particle
joined to create the Hydra Project.
During 2006, Hart teamed up with fellow Grateful Dead bandmate Bill Kreutzmann, Phish
bassist Mike Gordon
and former The Other Ones
lead guitarist Steve Kimock
, to form the Rhythm Devils
, a nickname that refers to Hart and Kreutzmann's legendary drum solos and improvisation. The band features songs from their respective repertoires as well as new songs written by Jerry Garcia's songwriting companion Robert Hunter
. The Rhythm Devils announced their first tour in 2006, which ended at the popular Vegoose
festival in Las Vegas, Nevada
over the Halloween
weekend.
In June and July 2008, Hart led the Mickey Hart Band on a U.S. concert tour. The band consists of Hart, Steve Kimock
on guitar and pedal steel guitar
, George Porter, Jr.
on bass, Kyle Hollingsworth
on keyboards, Sikiru Adepoju
on talking drum, Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums, and Jen Durkin on vocals.
In 2010 Hart debuted "Rhythms of the Universe," a composition based on a variety of astrophysical data. The composition represents a collaboration between scientist and artist, using their own sophisticated tools. Nobel Laureate in physics George Smoot
from the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Keith Jackson, a computer scientist and musician also from LBNL, are providing some of the data for the project. The final result will be a musical “history of the universe", from the Big Bang onwards through galaxy and star formation, up until modern times, including images from the Hubble Space Telescope
and rhythms derived from the cosmic background radiation, supernovae, quasars, and many other astrophysical phenomena. The work premiered at the conference "Cosmology on the Beach" in Playa de Carmen in January 2010.
In April 2010, it was announced that Rhythm Devils
will tour in the summer of 2010 with a new lineup including Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann
(assorted percussion), Keller Williams
(guitar, vocals), Sikiru Adepoju
(talking drum), Davy Knowles
(guitar, vocals), and Andy Hess
(bass).
and used as the basis for the album Music to Be Born By. His brother, Jerry Hart, is a radio talk show host and social media business consultant based in San Francisco. In addition, Hart is the only Jewish ex-member of the Grateful Dead..
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
earned the nickname "the rhythm devils".
Career
Before joining the Grateful Dead, Hart and his father, Leonard HartLenny Hart
Leonard "Lenny" Hart was a drummer, who owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in San Carlos, California. He was the father of Mickey Hart, the percussionist for the Grateful Dead. Lenny Hart was also the Grateful Dead's original money manager. Lenny Hart was...
, a champion rudimental drummer, owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in San Carlos, California
San Carlos, California
San Carlos is a city in San Mateo County, California, USA on the San Francisco Peninsula, about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. It is an affluent small residential suburb located between Belmont to the north and Redwood City to the south. San Carlos' ZIP code is 94070, and it is within...
.
Hart joined the Grateful Dead in September 1967, and left in February 1971 when he extricated himself from the band, due to conflict between band management and Mickey's father. During his sabbatical, in 1972, he recorded the album Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder (album)
Rolling Thunder is the first solo album by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.Although Hart had temporarily left the Grateful Dead at the time he made Rolling Thunder, members of the Dead play on the album, along with a number of other well-known musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area music scene...
. He returned to the Dead in 1974, and remained with the group until their official dissolution in 1995. Collaboration with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead continues, under the band name The Dead
The Dead (band)
The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...
.
Alongside his work with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart has flourished as a solo artist, percussionist, and the author of several books. In these endeavors he has pursued a lifelong interest in ethnomusicology and in world music. His travels and his interest in all things percussion-related led him to collect percussion instruments, and to collaborate with percussion masters the world over.
Hart became interested in percussion as a grade-school student. A few months out of high school he "discovered the work of Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji
Babatunde Olatunji
Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist and recording artist.- Biography :Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, a small town near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Nigeria. A member of the Yoruba people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at...
". Olatunji later taught Hart and collaborated with Hart and the Grateful Dead on a regular basis.
Hart was influential in recording global musical traditions on the verge of possible extinction, working with archivists and ethnomusicologists at both the American Folklife Center
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife" . The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American folk music...
at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. He is on the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife" . The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American folk music...
and has been a spokesperson for the Save Our Sounds audio preservation initiative. He also serves on the Library of Congress National Recorded Sound Preservation Board and is known for reissues and other recordings with historical and cultural value.
In 1991, Hart produced the album Planet Drum, which remained at #1 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
World Music Chart for 26 weeks, and received the first ever Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best World Music Album.
Hart has written books on the history and traditions of drumming throughout history. His solo recordings (featuring a variety of guest musicians) are percussive of course, but also verge on New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
music categorically. His enthusiasm for world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
traditions and preservation and collaborative efforts is comparable to that of guitarist Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
.
In 2000, Hart became a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
The Institute for Music and Neurologic Function is a US nonprofit organization conducting research into and applying music therapy. It is located in The Bronx, New York City....
, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to seek to establish new knowledge and develop more effective therapies which awaken, stimulate and heal through the extraordinary power of music – continuing his investigation into the connection between healing and rhythm, and the neural basis of rhythm. In 2003, he was honored with the organization’s Music Has Power Award, recognizing his advocacy and continuous commitment to raising public awareness of the positive effect of music.
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
After the death of Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
and the consequent dissolution of the Grateful Dead in 1995, Hart continued to play music with various groups including members of the Grateful Dead. In the 1996 Furthur Festival, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box played, as did Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
's band Ratdog
Ratdog
RatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
.
In 2005, Hart and the members of the band Particle
Particle (band)
Particle is an American jam band formed in Los Angeles in 2000. The original members were Dave Simmons , Steve Molitz , Eric Gould , and Darren Pujalet . Simmons died shortly after the formation of the band due to a sudden illness. Guitarist Charlie Hitchcock joined shortly thereafter...
joined to create the Hydra Project.
During 2006, Hart teamed up with fellow Grateful Dead bandmate Bill Kreutzmann, Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
bassist Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
and former The Other Ones
The Other Ones
The Other Ones was an American rock band formed in 1998 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with part-time Grateful Dead collaborator Bruce Hornsby. In 2000, Bill Kreutzmann, another Grateful Dead alumnus, joined the group, while Phil Lesh dropped out. In...
lead guitarist Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock
-External links:** at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at Internet Archive's live music archive*, San Francisco, April 3, 1999*, Unofficial Fan Forum...
, to form the Rhythm Devils
Rhythm Devils
The Rhythm Devils are a band led by founding Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.-Grateful Dead:The Rhythm Devils had their origins as an informal but frequent fixture in the Grateful Dead concert repertoire...
, a nickname that refers to Hart and Kreutzmann's legendary drum solos and improvisation. The band features songs from their respective repertoires as well as new songs written by Jerry Garcia's songwriting companion Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter (lyricist)
Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
. The Rhythm Devils announced their first tour in 2006, which ended at the popular Vegoose
Vegoose
Vegoose was an annual Halloween music and arts festival that took place in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike the Bonnaroo Music Festival — put on by the same organizers, Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment — Vegoose does not offer on-site camping...
festival in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
over the Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
weekend.
In June and July 2008, Hart led the Mickey Hart Band on a U.S. concert tour. The band consists of Hart, Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock
-External links:** at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at Internet Archive's live music archive*, San Francisco, April 3, 1999*, Unofficial Fan Forum...
on guitar and pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
, George Porter, Jr.
George Porter, Jr.
George Porter, Jr. is a musician best known as the bassist and singer of The Meters. Along with Art Neville, Porter formed the group in the mid 60's and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977, but reformed in 1989...
on bass, Kyle Hollingsworth
Kyle Hollingsworth
Kyle Hollingsworth is an american rock keyboard player best known for playing in The String Cheese Incident. Kyle sings and plays electric piano, Hammond organ, clavinet, synthesizer and accordion....
on keyboards, Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju is a percussionist and recording artist from Nigeria, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.- Background :...
on talking drum, Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums, and Jen Durkin on vocals.
In 2010 Hart debuted "Rhythms of the Universe," a composition based on a variety of astrophysical data. The composition represents a collaboration between scientist and artist, using their own sophisticated tools. Nobel Laureate in physics George Smoot
George Smoot
George Fitzgerald Smoot III is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and $1 million TV quiz show prize winner . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on COBE with John C...
from the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Keith Jackson, a computer scientist and musician also from LBNL, are providing some of the data for the project. The final result will be a musical “history of the universe", from the Big Bang onwards through galaxy and star formation, up until modern times, including images from the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
and rhythms derived from the cosmic background radiation, supernovae, quasars, and many other astrophysical phenomena. The work premiered at the conference "Cosmology on the Beach" in Playa de Carmen in January 2010.
In April 2010, it was announced that Rhythm Devils
Rhythm Devils
The Rhythm Devils are a band led by founding Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.-Grateful Dead:The Rhythm Devils had their origins as an informal but frequent fixture in the Grateful Dead concert repertoire...
will tour in the summer of 2010 with a new lineup including Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
(assorted percussion), Keller Williams
Keller Williams
Keller Williams is an American musician from Fredericksburg, Virginia, who began performing in the early 1990s. He is also known by the names K-Dub or just Keller, when performing. Williams' music combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, and...
(guitar, vocals), Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju is a percussionist and recording artist from Nigeria, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.- Background :...
(talking drum), Davy Knowles
Davy Knowles
Davy Knowles is a blues guitarist and singer. Knowles, formerly of the blues-rock band Back Door Slam, is now working as a solo artist under the name Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam. With Back Door Slam, he played lead guitar and sang on their debut album, Roll Away...
(guitar, vocals), and Andy Hess
Andy Hess
Andy Hess is an American bassist and former member of Gov't Mule, having joined the band in 2003. Previously, he was The Black Crowes' bassist from February 2001 until their hiatus early the following year...
(bass).
Personal life
Mickey has been married since 1990 to lawyer and environmental activist Caryl Hart, who obtained her PhD from UC Berkeley in 2009 on the topic of climate change and public lands. He has two children. One son, Taro, had his heartbeat recorded in uteroIn utero
In utero is a Latin term literally meaning "in the womb". In biology, the phrase describes the state of an embryo or fetus. In legal contexts, the phrase is used to refer to unborn children. Under common law, unborn children are still considered to exist for property transfer purposes.-See also:*...
and used as the basis for the album Music to Be Born By. His brother, Jerry Hart, is a radio talk show host and social media business consultant based in San Francisco. In addition, Hart is the only Jewish ex-member of the Grateful Dead..
Solo discography
- Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder (album)Rolling Thunder is the first solo album by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.Although Hart had temporarily left the Grateful Dead at the time he made Rolling Thunder, members of the Dead play on the album, along with a number of other well-known musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area music scene...
(1972) – Mickey Hart - Diga (1976) – Diga Rhythm Band
- The Rhythm Devils Play River Music (1980) – The Rhythm DevilsRhythm DevilsThe Rhythm Devils are a band led by founding Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.-Grateful Dead:The Rhythm Devils had their origins as an informal but frequent fixture in the Grateful Dead concert repertoire...
- Däfos (1983) – Mickey Hart, Airto MoreiraAirto MoreiraAirto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
, Flora PurimFlora PurimFlora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Chick Corea's landmark album Return to Forever... - Yamantaka (1983) – Mickey Hart, Henry Wolff, Nancy HenningsNancy HenningsNancy Hennings is a musician who teamed up with Henry Wolff to make the album Tibetan Bells in 1971, one of the pioneering LPs of new age music. In 1982, with the assistance of Wolff and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, she produced the mysterious sounding Yamantaka...
- Music to be Born By (1989) – Mickey Hart
- At the Edge (1990) – Mickey Hart
- Planet Drum (1991) – Mickey Hart
- The Apocalypse Now Sessions (1991) – The Rhythm Devils
- Mickey Hart's Mystery Box (1996) – Mickey Hart
- Supralingua (1998) – Mickey Hart
- Spirit into Sound (2000) – Mickey Hart
- The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back (2002) – Mickey Hart
- Global Drum Project (2007) – Mickey Hart, Zakir HussainZakir Hussain (musician)Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
, Sikiru AdepojuSikiru AdepojuSikiru Adepoju is a percussionist and recording artist from Nigeria, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.- Background :...
, Giovanni HidalgoGiovanni HidalgoGiovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is an educator and percussionist associated with Latin jazz.-Early years:Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician as well as his father, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was... - The Rhythm Devils Concert ExperienceThe Rhythm Devils Concert ExperienceThe Rhythm Devils Concert Experience is a 2008 two-disc DVD concert and documentary of the Rhythm Devils 2006 tour, featuring members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, The Other Ones, and Deep Banana Blackout. The name "Rhythm Devils" was originally a nickname for Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill...
(2008 – DVD) – The Rhythm Devils
External links
- Mickey Hart official website
- Grateful Dead official website