Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – Mickey Hart
Written by Gaz E
Sunday, 12 January 2014 03:30
Mickey Hart: Innovators In Music (MVD Visual/Wienerworld)
Mickey Hart is famous for his two stints (from 1967-71, then 1974-95) as one of the two drummers in the Grateful Dead, half of the percussion pairing known as the Rhythm Devils alongside Bill Kreutzmann.
Harbouring a lifelong fascination with ethnomusicology, Hart, following the death of Jerry Garcia and subsequent dissolution of the Grateful Dead in the mid-nineties, dedicated his time to expanding his exotic collection of rare percussive instruments and creating music that takes “epic events from the sky and turns them into music.”
“Music is nourishment,” Hart told Daniel K. Berman, the man behind this documentary originally made for the Innovators In Music television series, and that, like food, if he went without it he would die.
That’s appears to be far from an exaggeration too, as the film shows Hart in various studios, both musical and artistic, at his home in a remote part of Northern California, his passion to capture the “sounds of the cosmos” and spread it through his art unquestionable.
Mickey spends a lot of the film’s running time speaking of the ‘vibratory world’, and that all encompassing term fuels both his music-making and art-creating: in fact, it’s hard to distinguish between the two, Hart’s pieces, whether percussive, painted, or dug out of the forest – more later – all regarded as meditation to the man.
Ah yes, the forest. Hart shows the filmmaker his Japanese Bonsai tree collection and divulges tips on how best to nurture and fashion the miniature wonders of nature. This, however, pales into insignificance when he leads the cameras towards his striking set of petrified Redwood Deadwood, dug out of the forest, given names like ‘The Mermaid and her Sea-Dog’, and displayed as works of art. These pieces are distinctive to say the least.
Mickey’s art is created in a fashion that has to be seen to be believed too: it’s certainly an impressive procedure, as is the way he has found to have his artwork built into drum skins without being damaged.
Drums, of course, are where we came into this feature in the first place, and the footage of Hart creating experimental percussive music with Indian tabla master Zakir Hussein and Nigerian talking drum guru Sikiru Adepoju is memorable.
As said, this film was made as part of a television series – airing on the Documentary Channel and Bravo Canada – so, minus the ad breaks, this runs for less than 30 minutes in its entirety. Thank the cosmos, then, for the bonus features which run for longer than the actual documentary. As well as featuring exclusive music performances, including the ‘Obama Rap’, these bonus features include an eye-opening look at some of Hart’s unique instruments.
The region-free NTSC disc is wrapped in artwork usually reserved for discount store shelf-filler and could certainly take a leaf out of the book of clever manufacturers and their continual polishing of turds. This release, however, moves in the opposite direction: an interesting film covered in insipid artwork. Those brave enough to take the plunge will find a film that will fascinate.
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