Grateful Dead Drummer Mickey Hart Deluxe Release

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Mickey Hart (photo from the artist’s Facebook page)

Twenty-five years ago this week, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart released his Planet Drum album, which earned the first World Music Grammy and spent 26 weeks at #1 on the Billboard world music chart. Now, UMe has announced a 25th anniversary edition, coming on December 2.

Planet Drum, comprising Hart, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru Adepoju, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim and Giovanni Hidalgo, toured the world, performing for sold-out crowds. The 25th anniversary edition of the album includes three new tracks—”Sea of Showers,” “Throat Games” and “The Spot”—with additional arrangement and composition by Hart’s longtime collaborator Hussain. “Sea of Showers” features Purim and Olatunji singing over a rhythm base that includes sounds ranging from a bullroarer to chimes. “Throat Games” is described in a press release as “an all-globe scat-a-thon” and “The Spot” is “a sonic homage to the water gods.” Pre-order is available here.

When asked to reflect on making Planet Drum, Hart, in the announcement, commented, “This experience was about people having the will to do it and wanting to come together…because many times, people from different cultures are reticent of getting together with powerful people from other cultures; it’s hard to share rhythm for some musicians who are tradition-bound. In this case, these folks, they weren’t culturally bound by their rhythms; they were in the right place at the right time for a new gumbo, a new way of coming together, egoless, in the spirit, to have fun and record a classic 20th century gamelan, which has always been the carrot for me. I always wanted to ring that bell.”

Listen to “Island Groove” from Planet Drum

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Universal Music Group and Hart have also announced a new partnership, which takes Hart into the studio to create a new album that will be released with Verve Label Group in 2017. Hart is also bringing his extensive historical body of work to UMe, naming them as his partners for catalogue initiatives.

The 25th anniversary edition of Planet Drum will be released on vinyl, CD and in all digital formats.