Mickey Hart will release Over the Edge and Back: The Best of Mickey Hart on April 23rd. The former Grateful Dead drummer compiled eight tracks from his albums along with the previously unreleased "Call to All Nations," the composition Hart co-wrote for the opening ceremonies of the 100th Olympiad in Atlanta in 1996. All of the compositions have been remixed by Hart in 5.1 Surround Sound, a format he used last year in reissuing the Dead's American Beauty and Workingman's Dead.

"It's the only reason I'd do a 'best of,'" Hart says. "I'm not really into 'best of's.' The idea of being able to go back in 5.1 was kind of fun. Stereo is dead -- it just doesn't know it yet. We should have been in 5.1 years ago. I couldn't resist it. Almost every project I do now has a 5.1 component. The Gyoto Monks, which Ryko will be releasing next month, will be in 5.1."

Among the tracks Hart selected for the compilation is "Compound," by the Rhythm Devils. The group -- which also featured fellow Dead alums drummer Bill Kreutzman and bassist Phil Lesh, along with an all-star lineup of percussionists including Airto Moreira -- recorded the composition for The Apocalypse Now Sessions. Hart's solo albums Planet Drum and Mystery Box are represented by a pair of tracks each, and Supralingua and At the Edge were both tapped for a track each. Hart's 1976 ensemble, the Diga Rhythm Band also contribute one song from Diga. As for "Call to All Nations," the song features an eleven-piece percussion unit including Hart, Zakir Hussain and Philip Glass, along with a quartet of voices including Joan Baez.

Also on Hart's plate this month is the release of Mondo Head, the latest recording by renowned Japanese percussion ensemble Kodo, and in 5.1, of course. "What a dream project," he says. "It was glorious. I went to Japan, and it was just a week of solid playing. You bring all these great drummers in one after the other and we had a time of it. It was like drum camp. I didn't want to make a taiko [a relatively modern form of Japanese ensemble drumming] record. I didn't think they needed me to make another one. I wanted to go out of the box and take them to another plane. That was the challenge I laid down. I said, 'Are you guys ready to fly?' And they said, 'Yes.'"

Were production duties not keeping the drummer busy enough, Hart is also plotting a summer/fall tour with his latest ensemble, Bembe Orisha. "[Grateful Dead lyricist] Robert Hunter has written a lot of songs, and we're going into rehearsals soon," he says. "I'm just getting restless for the road. This summer and fall will be two or three tours." Hart also plans to record the group for the first time, after the tour. "You know, I record everything. After the tour, after we burn in the new material, we'll make a record."

Over the Edge and Back track listing:

Angola
Where Love Goes
Down the Road
Sweet Sixteen
The Eliminators
Udu Chant
Temple Caves
Compound
Call to All Nations

ANDREW DANSBY
(April 9, 2002)