2006

This summer, Mickey Hart will keep busy with projects new and old. On July 5th, Mickey will play a special one time only set at Milwaukee’s Summerfest billed as ‘Mickey Hart & Friends’ which will include special guests from Particle & The Mutaytor. He’ll also be participating in a special drumming presentation at The Kipaulu Center for the Arts in the Berkshires in mid July. After reforming at this years Jammys, The ‘Rhythm Devils’ with Mickey Hart & Bill Kreutzmann are returning to the road this August with a special appearance at The Gathering of the Vibes. In September, Mickey will reunite with longtime friend and collaborator Zakir Hussain for a 10 day run of west coast Planet Drum dates. Planet Drum will also feature original members Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo among others.

For more information visit mickeyhart.net

The glacial pace of Portishead’s third album appearsto be moving a bit quicker. Group member Geoff Barrow wrote last week on the group’s Myspace.com page that its new tracks “are in a right mess but sounding like [an] album for the first time in years.” He added, “It [is] nice to think us old gits have a few tunes in us without sounding like coffee table Zero 7 / Moby chill out sh*t!!”

Portishead has not released a studio album since a self-titled 1997 effort. In the time since, vocalist Beth Gibbons released a 2002 collobration with Rustin Man, “Out of Season.”

Source billboard.com.

At 28 songs, Radiohead’s set was the longest of their brief North American tour, during which the critically adored Brits have been testing out new songs in the mix for their next album. On this night, these included the raucous guitar jam “Bodysnatchers,” the “OK Computer”-era outtake “Nude” and the danceable “15 Step.”

But day two’s mightiest jam came after midnight, when one-half of Phish reunited during the annual Super Jam. Previewing their summer tour, singer/vocalist Trey Anastasio and bassman Mike Gordon teamed with the Benevento/Russo Duo and the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh for the Dead’s “Casey Jones” and the oft-covered “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.”

For full coverage, see: jadedinsider.com and Billboard.com

The annual, sun-drenched music-marathon that is the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival kicked off its fifth year yesterday (June 16) with more than 14 hours of music that began with the resurrected folk-rock of World Party and finally lurched to a halt early this morning with the conclusion to a jam band face-off featuring Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits.

Indeed, if in its first fours years, the festival (sold-out this year at 80,000 people) has been known primarily as a jam-band event, last night’s bill should do well to help redefine the event, as Bonnaroo’s behemoth main stage featured not only one, but two classic rock icons: Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks.

Bonnaroo favorites My Morning Jacket ushered in the midnight hour with squalls of Crazy Horse-worthy fury. The quintet delivered a more than three-hour set that sported a guest turn from friend and singer Andrew Bird for an epic take on another classic rock moment, “It Makes No Difference” by the Band. MMJ recently recorded the track for an upcoming Band tribute album at singer/drummer Levon Helm’s barn studio in Woodstock, N.Y.

For an extensive day 1 recap, see: jadedinsider.com and Billboard.com

Tom Petty has settled on the track list for “Highway Companion,” his first solo album since 1994’s Rick Rubin-produced “Wildflowers.” Fittingly, the set is due July 25 on Rubin’s American Recordings imprint via Warner Bros.

First single “Saving Grace” can be streamed from Petty’s Web site and will be available July 4 via digital download retailers.

Source: billboard

Rappers have long proclaimed their love for Cristal, frequently mentioning the high-end champagne in songs and popping the corks of the clear, gold-labeled bottles in music videos and at nightclubs.

But the makers of Cristal don’t seem to feel the same way about hip-hop