Released 1976 Length 40:05 Release date 1976 | Recorded 1976 Artist Diga Rhythm Band Label Rykodisc | |
 | ||
Similar Planet Drum, At the Edge, Global Drum Project, Rolling Thunder, Supralingua | ||
Diga is an album by the Diga Rhythm Band, a percussion-based music ensemble led by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and by Zakir Hussain. It was released by Round Records as a vinyl LP in 1976. It was remixed and released on CD by Rykodisc Records in 1988.
Contents
- Mickey hart sweet sixteen studio version
- Critical reception
- Track listing
- Diga Rhythm Band
- Additional musicians
- Production
- Songs
- References
The ensemble, originally called the Tal Vadya Rhythm Band, was founded in 1973 by Zakir Hussain, at the Ali Akbar College of Music. Mickey Hart joined in 1975, and Hussain and Hart renamed the group the Diga Rhythm Band. Diga was recorded in 1976 at Hart's studio The Barn in Novato, California.
Jerry Garcia plays guitar on two of the album's five tracks. The song "Happiness Is Drumming" is an early, instrumental version of "Fire on the Mountain".
Mickey hart sweet sixteen studio version
Critical reception
On Allmusic, Jeff Tamarkin called Diga "a compelling and powerful recording that draws in the listener with its spellbinding rhythms."
Writing in The Music Box in 2008, John Metzger said that the album "effectively introduced percussion-driven, globally minded grooves to an entirely new audience. It also was far ahead of its time..... Diga is, in hindsight, a very uneven affair.... If viewed from the perspective that it was the beginning rather than the end of a journey, it's much easier to see Diga's charms."
Track listing
- "Sweet Sixteen" – 8:03
- "Magnificent Sevens" – 12:55
- "Happiness Is Drumming" – 3:17
- "Razooli" – 2:50
- "Tal Mala" – 12:48
Diga Rhythm Band
Additional musicians
Production
CD remix:
Dedication:
Songs
1Sweet Sixteen8:06
2Magnificent Sevens12:59
3Happiness Is Drumming3:18