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| A Rainforest Band Tribute to Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia at the Starwood Festival |
| Date | Location | Venue/Info |
| July 21-26, 2009 | Sherman, NY | Brushwood Folklore Center |
October 24th, 2008, sadly, marked the passage of a beloved pioneer of
jazz/world music fusion: keyboardist Merl Saunders. The Grammy-nominated
album Blues From the Rainforest, also featuring Grateful Dead guitarist
Jerry Garcia and percussionist Muruga Booker (Weather Report, P-Funk, Free
Funk), was an early New Age hit. This blend of Amazonian Rainforest sounds,
tribal rhythms, synthesizers, and electric guitar, gave birth to Merl
Saunders & the Rainforest Band. This was one of several Merl Saunders
projects, often with Jerry Garcia and other members of the Grateful Dead
family, like the albums and appearances of Garcia/Saunders, High Noon,
Legion of Mary, The Jerry Garcia Band, Jazz is Dead, and others. Ten years
of performance and four albums later, the band was retired when Saunders
suffered a stroke.
In a special tribute to Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia, we are proud to
bring you the return of The Rainforest Band! It will take place at The 2009
Starwood Festival in Sherman, NY (July 21-26th), one of America's biggest
and oldest spiritual & multi-cultural events, run by the Association for
Consciousness Exploration. The last appearance of Merl Saunders & the
Rainforest Band was at Starwood in 2000, so it is a fitting place to debut
their re-launch. (Starwood is known for such milestones, such as the first
American appearance of Baka Beyond, and the first performance of Babatunde
Olatunji with Halim El-Dabh.)
Included are veteran members Tony Saunders (Merl's son) on bass,
percussionist Muruga Booker & Shakti (Global Village Ceremonial Band),
guitarist Michael Hinton (Country Joe & the Fish, High Noon) and Bill
Thompson (Blues From the Rainforest) on keyboards/synthesizer, joined by
special guests Ken Kozora on keyboards, Perry Robinson on clarinet, and
Sikiru Adepoju on talking drum. They guarantee an evening of terrific music
ranging from the spiritual to the funky, with some special treats for the
Deadheads, dedicated to the good work Merl and Jerry did for the Rainforest
Action Network.
Speaking of Sikiru Adepoju, who Mickey Hart calls "the Mozart of the Talking
Drum", we are also proud to feature Sikiru Adepoju & Heart Beat: an
incredible assembly of global talent in the tradition of Planet Drum.
Sikiru, a veteran of Babatunde Olatunji's Drums of Passion, has combined
members of his 2003 band Afrika Heartbeat and other premier artists to form
this more universal ensemble, including steel drum & djembe artist Douglas
"Val" Serrant (featured on Airto Moreira's album Life After That), Guitarist
Peter Fujii (from the classic Pharoah Sanders album Rejoice!), percussionist
Deen Badarou (from What Will Tomorrow Bring by Femi Kuti), trap drummer
Deszon X. Claiborne (from the Don Cherry album Multikulti) and DJ Deegan
Mack Adams, engineer for Infinite Studios (Turf Talk - West Coast Vaccine by
The Cure). Sikiru has played with just about every Mickey Hart project since
1990, including the Grammy-winning albums Planet Drum (1990) and Global Drum Project (2008). He's recorded with Stevie Wonder (Jungle Fever, 1991),
Muruga Booker & Babatunde Olatunji (Circle of Drums, 2005), Airto Moreira
(Life After That, 2003), and the String Cheese Incident (On the Road, 2004),
among many others.
Also on the bill is the dynamic Middle-Eastern drumming & dancing troupe
Raquy & the Cavemen! Combining elements of Egyptian, Israeli, and Indian
music & dance with the hard-rock influence of drummer Liron Peled, Raquy
Danziger weaves truly electric and eclectic rhythms guaranteed to get you on
your feet! (Both bands will also appear and offer workshops at the Beachland
Ballroom July 18th in Cleveland, OH, with tribal belly-dancing from the
Druga Dance Company.)
Other Starwood acts this year include that terrific Cleveland Jam Band The
JiMiller Band, featured at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival, the Further Festival,
the 10,000 Lakes Festival, and House of Blues. They've opened for PHISH,
Rusted Root, Blues Traveler, Little Feat and String Cheese Incident. Also
from Cleveland, that Great Lakes bard Alex Bevan, who's opened for everyone
from Seals & Croft, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Pure Prairie League to
Billy Joel. Plus other acts: Awen, Revel, Odd's Bodkin, Kari Tauring & Drew
Miller, Witch Disco, Pyrosonic, and Josh Sherman: BioRhythmia.
The Starwood Festival is a blend of over 150 classes on New Age, tribal, and
magical spirituality, with cutting-edge ideas and counter-cultural speakers.
It's a six-day camping event held near Erie, PA at a private,
clothing-optional campsite, with around 15 concerts. It has featured such
prominent authors as Timothy Leary, Terence McKenna, Phyllis Curott, Paul
Krassner, Isaac Bonewits, Stephen & Ina May Gaskin, Jay Stevens, Janet &
Stewart Farrar, Ralph Metzner, Patricia Monaghan, Robert Anton Wilson, and
SubGenius Rev. Ivan Stang (Praise "Bob"!) to name a few. Classes on
Witchcraft, Druidry, VooDoo, Native Ways, Eastern Mysticism, Ceremonial
Magic, and Shamanism by prominent authors are side by side with
Ethno-Botany, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Bio-Feedback, Green Technology,
Quantum Physics and Virtual Reality.
Starwood is very much a drummer's event, with all-night drumming in a
special structure called the Roundhouse, and workshops and performances by
some of the finest percussionists in the country. Starwood has featured
Babatunde Olatunji & Drums of Passion, Jim Donovan of Rusted Root, Yaya
Diallo (author of The Healing Drum), Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey, Airto
Moreira, Sikiru Adepoju, Muruga Booker, Badal Roy, Halim El-Dabh, Rhythm
Quest, Drumplay, Seeds of Time, Jay Stevens (co-author of Drumming at the
Edge of Magic with Mickey Hart), Baka Beyond, Amampondo, Craig Woodson,
Djoliba, S.A.F.M.O.D., Earth Drum Council, Michael Markus, Nada Brahma,
Samba Scouts, the P.L.U.S. Band, and others.
See our website at www.starwoodfestival.com for further details.
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