Root member goes off with Drum the Ecstatic
Thursday, May 04, 2006
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At its full-on explosive peak, Rusted Root was powered by a pair of Jims -- Donovan on drums and DiSpirito on percussion -- who could turn any crowd into a dancing mob.

But the boys who gave Rusted Root its beat were busy with more than drums. DiSpirito left in 2001 to spend more time with his wife and son.
And now Donovan has followed suit, making it official that he is leaving Rusted Root after more than 15 years to be home with his wife and children: Tupelo, 6; Ella, 3; and Oliver, 1.
"My family has waited for me," Donovan says. "When it comes down to it, I wasn't willing to miss them anymore and be gone for three months at a time."
Over the last several years, Donovan has been developing a variety of side projects, including his solo records and drum workshops. In the fall, he will start a full-time position at Saint Francis University in Loretto teaching World Music and hand drumming, and running the university's drumming ensemble.
On Friday night, he's presenting the Pittsburgh debut of Jim Donovan: Drum the Ecstatic International, a five-man ensemble with a cappella vocals and African-influenced drumming and dancing. It's part of the weekend-long DrumTalk 2006: International Drum Symposium at Bellefield Hall, University of Pittsburgh.
Donovan has been touring off and on with Drum the Ecstatic for a year and a half and, he says, "I wanted to make sure it was smoking before I brought it home."
To these five, he says, the smoking comes naturally.
"I don't know that there's been more than one rehearsal ever," he says, adding that "when you've got high caliber musicians who can communicate without speaking, really wonderful things can happen."
One of the members of Drum the Ecstatic is Elie Kihonia, the percussionist who founded Afrika Yetu and Umoja African Arts Company and also inspired Rusted Root in its early days. There are a few Root pieces in the drum show, including "Back to the Earth."
Donovan says the decision not to stay with Root was tough, but made easier by the fact that the members of Root have been more focused the past few years on solo work than new band material.
"The band wasn't doing anything new," Donovan says, "so it wasn't like I was having a huge creative outlet. I promised myself that when I got to that point, I would stop."

(Weekend editor Scott Mervis can be reached at smervis@post-gazette.com )