įor three and a half years, he was stationed throughout Europe, where he also claimed to have taught 'combative measures' (most notably judo, in which he had attained a black belt) to units of the Strategic Air Command and other units in Europe and Africa. He served as a drummer in The Airmen of Note, an elite big band unit in the United States Air Force Band modeled after Glenn Miller's celebrated Army Air Forces Band. Impressed by its musical pedigree, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1961. Hart dropped out of high school as a senior. Olatunji later taught and collaborated with Hart. A few months out of high school, he discovered the work of Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, another formative influence. While employed as a soda jerk at El Patio, a jazz club in Atlantic Beach, New York, he was influenced by Tito Puente's regular appearances. Hart would later recall that many champion rudimental drummers attended his high school this inspired him to ascend to the first chair in the All State Band as a pupil of Arthur Jones, who served as a father figure to him and ensured that he was not suspended for neglecting his other classes. He attended Lawrence High School in Cedarhurst, New York. 'From the age of ten,' he recalled, 'all I did was drum.' Shortly thereafter, he discovered a practice pad and a pair of snakewood sticks that belonged to his father. Although Hart (who was hyperactive and not academically inclined) became interested in percussion as a grade school student, his interest intensified after seeing his father's picture in a newsreel documenting the 1939 World's Fair. His father Lenny Hart, a champion rudimental drummer, had abandoned his family when the younger Hart was a toddler. He was raised in suburban Inwood, New York by his mother, Leah, a drummer, gown maker and bookkeeper. Michael Steven Hartman was born in Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann earned the nickname 'the rhythm devils'.

He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 1971, and again from October 1974 until their final show in July 1995. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. Musical artist Mickey Hart leading a drum circle, February 2005

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