(#365AOTD celebrates a week of the letter M)
Yesterday I mentioned a homemade cassette tape that my friend Dewi had given me of the trip-hop group 9 Lazy 9 and DJ Food. Today’s AOTD was also on a homemade tape I had back in the day. Sometime in college someone came across “The Music of Upper and Lower Egypt,” produced by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. My copy of the album was on the B side of a cassette. Mozart’s “Requiem” was on the first side. Now there’s an interesting combo of sound if I do say so myself.
During every Grateful Dead concert that I had seen, both drummers, Hart and Bill Kruetzmann, would be solely featured in a section during the second set aptly called Drums. These guys would allow the rhythms to take them to anywhere the moment called for. It was always spontaneous and improvisational and often one of the highlights of the show. A master of and to the percussion Gods and Goddesses, Mickey Hart has consistently sought out different styles of drumming from around the world to expose to larger audiences. One case in point is, “Upper and Lower Egypt.” Here’s what Smithsonian Folkways says about the record:
“The Music of Upper and Lower Egypt’ features unique performances recorded during the Grateful Dead’s 1978 tour of Egypt. Produced by Mickey Hart and issued as part of “THE WORLD” series (now part of the Mickey Hart Collection made available by Smithsonian Folkways), the album includes music of celebration, triumph, gratitude to God (Allah), and commemoration of a bride and groom. In contrast to the first four Mattoki and Mahasi-style tracks featuring voice and drums alone, the fifth and sixth tracks in the Sa’ed Oena style feature a great variety of instruments including the supporting bass, tenor, and melodic alto variants of the mizmar (a reed instrument), tambura (a five-string lyre), tabla baladi (a double-sided stick drum), darabukka (a goblet-shaped drum), and tar (a single-skinned frame drum).” ^
Often times before Dead shows, impromptu drum circles would form in the parking lots. The first four tracks of this LP, my favs incidentally, reminds me of those circles with an Egyptian tribal call and response. I think all music in some form or fashion connects us to something greater than ourselves. The rhythms and drumming found on this disc are examples of just that; they are the pulse of the Universe.
’away أيوا
365, Album of the Day 2014 