Speaking of rock musicians lured out into the world of world music, Mickey Hart was one of the early champions of culture-melding, and the instinct continues with the fittingly titled Supralinga (“beyond words”) (Rykodisc 10396; 54:26 and 27:07), by his group Planet Drum. In itself, the Planet Drum personnel speaks to its entrenched sense of eclecticism: Sikiru Adepoju, tabla master Zakir Hussain, David (Tower of Power) Garibaldi, Giovannia Hidalgo, bassist Bakithi Kumalo, and Hart on percussion both physical and sampled summon up an undulant percussive sound, based more on the power of rhythm than melody or harmony, and freely crossing borders along the Afro-Indian-Latin path. The package includes a bonus disc with remixes and a video clip.
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