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Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart pays tribute to late UCSC professor

January 27, 2014

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The Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart leads the nearly full UCSC Music Recital Hall in some percussive clapping. (Photos by Danielle Triantis)
At one point, Hart pretended to call Lieberman, holding up the imaginary phone to the music and yelling, “Fred loves it,” before moving to the podium and playing the sides of it percussively, while creating vocal sound effects into the mike.
Chancellor George Blumenthal, UCSC Grateful Dead Archivist Nicholas Meriwether, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, and Arts Dean David Yager at a reception Saturday following a spirited musical celebration of the life and work of the late music professor Fred Lieberman.
Fredric Lieberman 1940–2013

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart honored the late UC Santa Cruz music professor Fred Lieberman on Saturday at a celebratory memorial event in the campus’s Music Center Recital Hall.

A lifelong researcher into the indigenous musical styles and traditions of China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and South India, Lieberman was co-author with Hart of the book Drumming at the Edge of Magic in the mid 1990’s.

Lieberman was also instrumental in helping to bring the Grateful Dead Archive to UC Santa Cruz. He passed away on May 4, 2013.

“Wherever we were—whether it was in Paris, London, or the Library of Congress—he had this great rhythm,” said Hart. “He was a scholar and a student extraordinaire of the world’s music…and a portal to that world for thousands of students.”

“The hours spent with Fred were pure nourishment to me,” Hart added. “He was the answer man--he knew what I wanted to know--his fingerprints were all over my four books. I couldn’t imagine Fred on the dance floor, but with a book in his hand, he was Nureyev.”

The afternoon event included a wide variety of music and remembrances from former students, faculty, friends, prominent colleagues, and family.

Performances ranged from the opening chants of the Venerable Monks of Gyuto Monastery, to a beautiful piece composed by Lieberman in 1958 titled Suite for Piano, performed by UCSC music professor Amy Beal, to a solo Gu-Quin (Chinese zither) piece played by UCSC Ph.D music student Josh Michaell.

Renowned avant-garde guitarist Henry Kaiser played a moving solo electric guitar improvisation Requiem for Fred Lieberman, and then joined Hart in a trio that also featured Steven Feld on ashiwa (a West African bass mbira).

Hart led the nearly full music hall in some percussive clapping to back up the trio. At one point, he pretended to call Lieberman, holding up the imaginary phone to the music and yelling, “Fred loves it,” before moving to the podium and playing the sides of it percussively, while creating vocal sound effects into the mike.

“What a great tribute to Fred,” said UCSC chancellor George Blumenthal after the event. “It was heartwarming to hear people talk about him. I kept wishing Fred had been here to experience this.”

“I was talking to Mickey (Hart) at the reception and I was really struck by his breadth and knowledge, his dedication to learning, and by how much influence he said Fred had on his work,” the chancellor added. “It was very impressive.”

UCSC arts dean David Yager announced at the beginning of the event that the Music Department has just established the Fred Lieberman Memorial for Excellence in Undergraduate Music Education.

He said that contributions to this fund will support the Music Department and students “in ways that were truly meaningful to Fred,” covering music lessons, providing critical ear training, and supporting visiting scholars and artists.

In his closing remarks, Yager noted: “This event reinforces how one person can make a difference, how important music and the arts are, and how important it is for faculty to realize that their influence goes a long way—that students remember what you add to their lives.”