Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot (born December 18, 1928 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian pianist, composer and writer of musical theatre. Educated at Upper Canada College and Bishop's University (Sherbrooke, QC) he was trained in music in South Africa and made a study of African music his specialty, although he is best known as co-author of the groundbreaking 1960s rock musical Hair, which ran for nearly 2000 performances in both London and New York, won a Grammy Award in 1969, and was made into a film in 1979.



MacDermot is also popular amongst collectors of jazz, funk and film soundtracks, for the scores he created to minor productions such as Woman is Sweeter and Rhinoceros. Working with high-calibre jazz musicians such as Bernard Purdie, Jimmy Lewis and Idris Muhammad, Macdermot created tight, rhythmical soundtrack pieces which effectively prefigured the funk material of James Brown. Consequently, MacDermot's work from this period has been sampled by hip-hop musicians including Busta Rhymes (who borrowed "Space" for "Woo hah! Got you all in check!") and Handsome Boy Modelling School (who sampled "Coffee Cold"). Also, on August 8th, 2006, Oh No released an album made entirely of Galt MacDermot samples on Stones Throw Records entitled Exodus into Unheard Rhythms.



Click here to read more.



EAR OF THE HEART: the music of Galt MacDermot



April 25th, 2010 - 6pm - Joe's Public Theatre



425 LAFAYETTE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10003



For tickets click here>>>



Ear Of The Heart: the music of Galt MacDermot is a feature-length documentary currently in post production about the iconic and prolific composer of the musical Hair, Galt MacDermot. Beloved by Broadway and Hip-Hop fans alike, this film follows Galt’s music career and reveals the depth and spirituality of his unforgettable body of work.



Join Galt MacDermot along with HAIR tribe members and special guests who will perform from his extensive repertoire. Selected scenes from the documentary will be screened. Proceeds from the benefit will be used to finish this film and help to assure that Galt’s music will be around for generations to come.