On Friday night, August 20th, Dead & Company will return to New York City for the band’s annual trip to Citi Field.
The Grateful Dead spinoff act has used Citi Field as a platform for auspicious occasions in the past, from the debut of “The Eleven” in 2018 to John Mayer playing Jerry Garcia‘s “Wolf” guitar for the full show in 2019.
Related: Dead & Company Implements COVID-19 Vaccine/Testing Protocols For 2021 Tour
This year, drummer Mickey Hart will present fans at the Queens, NY home of the New York Mets with something new. During the evening’s Drums/Space segment—his nightly foray into the rhythmic unknown alongside fellow Rhythm Devil Bill Kreutzmann—Hart will debut visuals and audio recordings from Voices of the Rainforest, a project near and dear to his heart.
Through Mickey’s work with Smithsonian Folkways and the Library of Congress, he has continually worked to preserve endangered music around the globe. One of Mickey’s closest collaborators and trusted allies in preserving the world’s music is anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Dr. Steven Feld. Together in 1991 they released their CD Voices of the Rainforest: A Day in the Life of Bosavi.
Dr. Feld has spent many years and multiple visits with the Bosavi people starting back in 1976. A 2018 return to Bosavi with filmmaker Jeremiah Ra Richards led to the creation of an immersive film joined to the 7.1 soundtrack.
Dr. Feld had unprecedented access to the Kaluli people which afforded him a unique recording opportunity, and the quality of the recording equipment yielded among the clearest aural experiences of the rainforest ever recorded. It was the resources of the Grateful Dead that enabled Mickey, Dr. Feld, and their partners in ethnomusicology to record previously uncovered music with new precision.
At select Dead and Company shows beginning at Citi Field, fans will have the opportunity to see some of these visuals and hear samples of Voices of the Rainforest performed during Drums/Space, live through RAMU (Mickey’s “Random Access Musical Universe”).
Learn more about Mickey Hart and Dr. Feld’s Voices of the Rainforest here.
For a full list of upcoming Dead & Company tour dates, head here.