February 8, 2009

Congratulations Mickey!

Great news, it's just been announced tonight.... Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo of the Global Drum Project are the winners of the Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album. Congratulations!!

Trippy tatts

In a fun article in the Feb. 6-8 USA Weekend Magazine, Luke Walton's upper right arm is shown proudly displaying four dancing skeletons. Walton, of the LA Lakers, gets the "G for Grateful Dead" in the NBA Tattoos, from A to Z article. All four skeletons balance basketballs and represent Luke and his three brothers-- it's a multi-generational family thing.

American Beauty Project

Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series recently featured an evening devoted to the lyrics and music of the Grateful Dead. The American Beauty Project, an ensemble of nine musicians, performed pieces with introductions made by Larry Campbell. (Campbell these days often plays with Phil Lesh. To read Blair Jackson's interview with Larry Campbell go to http://www.dead.net/features/interviews.) The evening at Lincoln Center gets a good write up by Stephen Holden in the January 19th issue of the New York Times.