Living Art, Sounding Spirit: The Bali Sessions
Produced by Mickey Hart
****

In addition to creating the most innovative music to from a Grateful Dead alum in the post-Garcia era with last year's techno-percussion masterpiece, "Supralingua," Mickey Hart is a one man mobile recording studio with an Indiana Jones sense of adventure.

A veteran world traveler who has been taping rare, indigenous music for decades, Hart has crossed the globe time and again to explore the native music of distant, exotic lands. "Living Art, Sounding Spirit: The Bali Sessions," is a three-CD extraveganza that finds the drum and percussion mystic deep in the heart of Indonesia.

With the help of a local music scholar, Hart researched the traditional sounds of Bali, as well as new music finding its way into the culture, and sought out the musicians that are key figures in their local scene. The result is a wonderful and wide ranging collection of audio exotica that sometimes has the feel of an open air bazaar with swirling chimes, dancing flutes, ringing bells and all sorts of chanting.

Other selections are like slow moving sailboats, hypnotically drifting on a sea of dreamy percussion. The recordings are well produced, the artwork is beautiful and the booklet with liner notes from Hart is a treasure chest of information on the people, the instruments and the history behind the music. ###