our deadline but by the time you read this, there will have been a reunion of the longest-running Phil & Friends configuration (aka the PLQ) with Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco and John Molo, for a single show at the historic Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York (site of legendary performances by the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and many more in the 1960s and 70s).

Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart, after an action-packed 2013 which saw him touring extensively with his own excellent band, kept a much lower public profile this past year, but was no less immersed in numerous projects, especially as pertains to his ongoing exploration of the convergence of music, science, medicine and other seemingly disparate disciplines. He's been especially preoccupiedof late with the study of the beneficial effects of music on the brain, continuing work he undertook some two decades ago with the pioneering neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks, focused on the ways music and rhythm can aid in the treatment of cognitive disorders, particularly those related to aging. In last year's Almanac we told you of ways in which Mickey has advanced that work with the assistance of amazing new technologies that track brain activity and make it visible through 3-D imaging. This past spring, he took the adventure to heady new heights, with a stunning demonstration, at the NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, of a new product called Neuro Drummer, described as "a custom-designed rhythm training game directed at enhancing rhythmic abilities and assessing the impact