I went to Planet Drum Friday night at the Aladdin Theater. It is an smaller intimate room with balcony and sits maybe 500, and has good acoustics.
Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo played for 1.5 hours. As you can imagine it was a very good show. I particularly was watching Sikiru's techinique on the talking drum, the primary instrument he played that night. The talking drum sound added a lot to the music. Of course Giovanni and Zakir were great as always, and Mickey contributed much on his rig of tom toms and percussion. Very inspirational.
Before the show I walked around the building and Zakir and Giovanni were standing out back. I got to shake theirs hands, so maybe some of that magic rubbed off. Both are short men, and that makes me wonder, as it seems many of the fastest greatest players are. Both were friendly to me and I said "Let me see your hands Giovanni!" He held them out for me to examine and he had flesh tone tape on his fingers and his hands were quite calloused. By contrast, I remembered Olatuni's hands were very soft.
I will add some more details of the show.
Giovanni had many congas and a rack of timbales. I'd never heard him play timbales before, which he did with authority and vigor, but he seemed slower with the sticks than with his bare hands (still very fast though). Of all the players he seemed the most bold, charging in with solo blasts that at times seemed to clash head on with pulse. Zakir, Sikiru, and Mickey held tight and fired back, the rhythms building deep.
Zakir worked his tablas and also used sticks a lot on a large mounted frame drum. Zakir also sang very well. He'd pick up the odd piece of percussion and strike it at just the right spot. Giovanni also was doing this, he'd pick up a big beater and administer one big wack, or slap a cymbal with his bare hand. Every one was free to change direction, stop what they were doing and pick up someting else because the pulse was carried so solidly by the rest. Sometimes they all went to softer percussion instruments, bells and shakers, little cricket sounds and squeeks.
There were some loops played, some of the background stuff from the album Planet Drum, and at one point I heard the recorded voice of Olatunji singing.
The crowd stomped and chanted when they quit, and after several minutes Giovanni walked out and motioned grinning for the rest to come out. They gave a great encore.
This was one concert I will remember the rest of my life. Wish you all could have been there!
