Jeff’s Playlist: Diga Rhythm Band

Mickey Hart, drummer/percussionist for the Grateful Dead, is an enthu­si­ast for all types of music. This is one of his best endeav­ors and it goes out to Wes, a fine per­cus­sion­ist in his own right.

I dig it. I think you will too.

Album infor­ma­tion

Original LP version

All tracks are writ­ten by Diga Rhythm Band, except where noted

Side 1

1.         “Razooli”       Ray Spiegel  2:50
2.         “Happiness is Drumming”              3:17
3.         “Tal Mala”      Ustad Alla Rahka, Diga Rhythm Band     12:48

Side 2

1.         “Sweet Sixteen”       8:03
2.         “Magnificent Sevens”          12:55

CD Version

When the album was released on CD, the tracks were re-ordered to: “Sweet Sixteen”, “Magnificent Sevens”, “Happiness Is Drumming”, “Razooli”, “Tal Mala”.

Personnel

Diga Rhythm Band
Mickey Hart – traps, gongs, tim­bales, tim­pani
Zakir Hussain – tabla, folk drums, tar
Jordan Amarantha – con­gas, bon­gos
Peter Carmichael – tabla
Aushim Chaudhuri – tabla
Vince Delgado – dumb­ek, tabla, talk­ing drum
Tor Dietrichson – tabla
Jim Loveless – marim­bas
Joy Shulman – tabla
Ray Spiegel – vibes
Arshad Syed – dug­gi tarang, nal

Additional musi­cians
Jerry Garcia – gui­tar on “Happiness is Drumming”, “Razooli“
Jim McPherson – vocals on “Razooli“
Kathy MacDonald – vocals on “Razooli“
David Freiberg – vocals on “Razooli”

Production

Mickey Hart – pro­duc­er
Vince Delgado – asso­ciate pro­duc­er
Zakir Hussain – pro­duc­tion and arrang­ing asso­ciate
Dan Healy – record­ing
Willy Wolf – record­ing
Betty Cantor – record­ing
Brett Cohen – assis­tant engi­neer
Jordan De La Sierra – cov­er art
Onehart – pho­to­graph
Steven Jurgensmeyer – pack­age design

CD remix:

Tom Flye – engi­neer
Tom Size – assis­tant engi­neer
Joe Gastwirt – dig­i­tal mastering

Dedication:

“This album is ded­i­cat­ed to our friend and teacher Ustad Alla Rakha, and to all drum­mers everywhere”.

Released  1976
Recorded  1976
Studio        The Barn, Marin County, California
Length       40:05
Label         Round Records
Producer   Mickey Hart