After the passing of
Grateful Dead guitarist
Jerry Garcia and the venerable band's demise, it was percussionist
Mickey Hart who proved to be the most creatively resilient. As Deadheads and appreciators of world music can attest,
Hart -- who is also an author and learned ethnomusicologist -- has been fusing genres ever since his debut release, 1972's
Rolling Thunder, which included Native American sounds and motifs along with rock and jazz.
Mickey Hart's Mystery Box harks back to that project with his first album of pop-oriented material in nearly a quarter-century. He combines the seemingly disparate world of percussion-based rhythms with traditional "Western-style" structures containing lyrics by
Grateful Dead wordsmith
Robert Hunter. All the more diverse are the contributions of
the Mint Juleps. This female vocal sextet features siblings Debbie Charles, Elizabeth Charles, Marcia Charles, and Sandra Charles as well as
Julie Isaac and
Debbie Longworth. Collectively, their paradisaical harmonies support
Hart's occasional leads, while they're effectively incorporated as primary participants on the infectious groove of the opener, "Where Love Goes (Sito)," and the new wave vibe of "Full Steam Ahead," which is reminiscent of
Talking Heads and
Tom Tom Club. The
Hart-sung "Down the Road" offers a nod to the late
Garcia and provides a focal point for
Hunter's obviously heartfelt tribute. "Only the Strange Remain" resembles something similar to a latter-era
Dead song, bringing to mind "West L.A. Fadeaway" and "Days Between," both in terms of
Hunter's piercing insight and a practically tangible noir feeling permeating throughout. The bombastic "John Cage Is Dead" is a masterful amalgam of percussive-heavy world beats in an undulating modern context. "The Last Song" is an apt conclusion as cultures once again collide, yielding a tune that wouldn't have sounded out of place on urban contemporary radio. As the name of this 1996 release suggests,
Mickey Hart's Mystery Box has a little something for every taste and reinforces the
Grateful Dead adage "Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right." ~ Lindsay Planer