By: Joe Lang
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Poster from planetdrummusic.com
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“In the beginning was noise,” Mickey Hart began his 1991 book Drumming at the Edge of Magic. “Noise began rhythm.” And in that same year, Hart joined with Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo on the Grammy award-winning Planet Drum.
Sixteen years later, he has rejoined his Planet Drum band mates for Global Drum Project. And so, on Saturday at Orchestra Hall, as the lights came down, Hart and Hussain took the stage with two new “friends” of the group: “Twin Dolphins,” and “The Squid.” The “friends” were two amplified and echoed pieces of root played by Hussain and Hart with hands, sticks, mallets and even hammers—producing some completely original dynamic tones to kick off the show. The only way to accurately describe the sound would be something like virtuoso Stomp on acid. Amidst the rhythm, David Hidalgo made it over to his kit and picked up a rain stick. Roadies scrambled about the stage to remove “Twin Dolphins” and “The Squid” as Adepoju walked on stage adorned in tie-dye and picked up his drum of choice, simply called the talking drum. The drum, native to West Africa, can have its tone altered by the player as he squeezes it under his arm. And some mighty fine squeezin’ he did.
So from there on out, separated by sheets of Plexiglas, the players traded beats, accents subdivision duties and even singing as crew members scrambled to assemble loops, samples and sound effects to anchor the meter of the songs. Zakir blazed on his tabla and battled with Hidalgo’s thunderous conga and timbale arsenal. It didn’t seem possible that Adepoju’s stick movement could match the blazing rhythmic bursts, and yet, it was! Zakir’s rapid-fire konnakol phrases sparred with hidalgo’s hand movements across the stage. Hart banged some silver track baton thing on strings, producing some oscillating effect that sounds like Dark Side era Pink Floyd. After a melodic marimba interlude, Zakir and Adepoju returned to the stage as Mickey talked in some affected shaman-like voice and the sparring continued amongst the players. And the rhythmic excursions stormed on and on. And this only mentions the instruments I can come close actually identifying.
But while the textures were interesting and insightful, the playing was somewhat lacking. I’m tempted to remember the (hilariously) edited version of Dazed and Confused on TBS: “Two Hour Drum Solos? You couldn’t handle that!”* When the players stick to playing exclusively in four and the subdivisions and syncopations aren’t super interesting, that’s pretty much the case. Simply put, what the players are capable of wasn’t evidenced or left on the stage, and for some in attendance, that was incredibly irksome.
Based on the star power of the quartet, and their history, it wouldn’t surprise me if Global Drum Project wins the Grammy for world music album. And as a percussive educational experience, I’m not sure I could recommend a better place to start than the quartet’s output. But as far as a more varied musical and interesting setting, one would be better served by checking out the players’ solo projects.
*Actual line—“Two hour drum solos? You couldn’t handle that on strong acid!”
Location Info:
Orchestra Hall
Artist Info: Planet Drum
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